No Other Love
by Darkshines1984
Summary: After the shootings in the hospital and their reunion it seems to Arizona and Callie like things can only get better but the last thing they need is a hostile temporary chief of surgery who has history with one of them. Love it, hate it...Please Review!
1. Making Up

**No Other Love**

**Pairing: **Callie/Arizona

**Rating: **M

**Summary: **After the shootings in the hospital and their reunion it seems to Arizona and Callie like things can only get better but with friends injured and their own issues to sort through the last thing they need is a hostile temporary chief of surgery who has history with the hospital and Callie.

**Chapter 1**

Callie watched the ambulance pull away with a mixture of emotions running through her mind. She was glad that Ruby was going to have her appendix removed and relieved that the lock down was over. On the other hand she was upset that people had died and been hurt and a little scared about the fact that she had come face to face with the gunman. Although crazy people with guns were in the news everyday and they had a huge amount of shooting victims being treated the hospital Callie had never imagined that something so terrible could happen in her workplace. The fact that she had shared the experience with Arizona was terrifying and incredibly eye opening.

They had not been split up long really but it had felt like forever and Callie had begun to resent the blond for not wanting what she wanted. It was silly really and immature and she regretted all the things she'd said to Arizona that day in anger. Now that her mind had cleared a little she felt a bit cruel because she had been desperately trying to bend Arizona to her will and it was no wonder the blonde had closed off a bit. Everything Arizona had shouted back at her earlier on had stung though especially as Callie could kind of understand why Arizona had said them. She was wrong though, Arizona was wrong because she was different from everyone Callie had ever dated. In fact Arizona was different from everyone she had ever met.

Callie finally turned to face the hot blond surgeon as the ambulance turned out of sight and felt her breath catch in her throat because of the look Arizona was giving her. She looked so unsure of herself which was unusual for the usually perky blond. In fact it was clear that Arizona had no idea where they stood now that the crisis was over and Callie couldn't blame her for being confused. Callie had felt confused for weeks and ironically this was the first time that the fog in her mind had lifted and everything had become clear again. The brunette couldn't resist throwing Arizona a slight smile and a quirky eyebrow raise. Arizona smiled back slightly but it was clear to see that the blond PEDs surgeon still had no idea how she was meant to handle the situation.

"I'm going to go see if kids need help finding their parents"

Callie couldn't believe that Arizona was willing to walk away from her now after the day they had just had. She didn't care if duty called right now she just cared that they were both safe and that she hadn't lost her. The gunman was in the room with them, he could have killed them both or one of them. What would she have done if Arizona had been shot, could she really forgive herself if the blonde had been killed and Callie had wasted some of the time they could have been together arguing over babies? The only reason she had wanted kids was because of how settled she felt with Arizona, the dream seemed to fall flat on its face a little when the object of her desires wasn't in the big picture anymore. Could she really choose children over the one person she had felt totally complete with?

"People died, people are dead!" the words were slipping out of Callie's mouth before she could even process them but at least Arizona had swung back round to face her.

"I mean I don't want to have kids if it means I can't be with you!"

There she'd said it now, she may live to regret it but she'd said it and she meant it. She was willing to make that sacrifice to keep Arizona in her life, she loved her that much even if Arizona didn't realise it. That's what made Arizona different from George and Erica and all those before, the fact that Callie would bend for her so that they didn't break even when it hurt to bend.

"No...no" Arizona began to walk back towards her and Callie felt her heart sink. Was Arizona going to knock her back? Had Callie done so much damage that Arizona really couldn't trust her?

"We'll have kids...we'll have all kinds of kids" the blond came to a halt in front of her and Callie struggled to comprehend her words because they were that unexpected.

"I always thought that I wasn't cut out to be a mum but you'll be a great mum...you'll be an amazing mum and..."

Callie was sure that she must be beaming from ear to ear at Arizona's words and wanted to tell her how much she loved her but she let the blond continue without cutting in.

"...I love you so much and I can't live without you and our ten kids and ..." Callie had no idea what Arizona was about to say after the 'and' but right now it didn't seem important. The most important thing was that Arizona loved her and wanted to be with her and actually wanted kids with her. Callie could also see from the expression on Arizona's face that she was not bending for Callie by agreeing to have kids, that the day's events had just put everything into perspective and perhaps Callie had even finally proven herself to the blond at last.

That little revelation was all the motivation Callie needed to propel herself forward and haul Arizona into her arms, kissing her, desperately trying convey how happy she was and how much she loved her within the kiss. Soft lips clashed against hers and Callie savoured the taste of Arizona as the blond ran her tongue along her lower lip before gaining entrance to her mouth with her tongue. Callie moaned and clasped the blonds face harder as they kissed but Arizona's hands seemed mobile as they roamed up and down Callie's arms and back.

Callie found it nearly impossible to break away from their kiss and separate again, even though the separation would just be temporary this time whilst they dealt with the crisis that had hit the hospital so hard. She lingered with her forehead against Arizona's for nearly five minutes, slightly relieved to see that Arizona was in no rush to leave either. Part of her felt a little guilty that she was sharing such an intimate moment with Arizona right outside the hospital doors when some of their friends were suffering either physically or emotionally inside the building. All in all she suspected that the likes of Christina and Meredith would probably forgive them their moment of happiness considering what had happened over the last month between the two of them.

Alex was already in an ambulance and being transported to another hospital for surgery but Derek was staying in Seattle Grace because Christina had already operated on him. Only patients in need of surgery where being moved, all other patients were staying put even though part of the hospital was a crime scene. It was hard to push your head above the water and get on with it but they were surgeons and doctors and they helped sick people and sick people just don't disappear after a really bad day.

Finally Arizona pulled her forehead away and straightened up, taking a deep breath as she did so. The pretty blond looked tired and emotional and Callie just wanted to reach straight back out for her again and pull her close.

"I really should go and sort out the little people" Arizona stated quietly, "and you should go check Mark is okay after being stuck with Lexie and Alex."

Callie couldn't help but smile at Arizona's thoughtfulness but she was well aware that Arizona was nearly as fond of Mark as she was even if the blond tried to hide it. It wasn't just Mark she needed to go see though, Meredith and Christina in particular had gone through hell and one of the nurses had told Callie that Bailey had been pretty emotionally roughed up as well.

"Promise me you'll come round to mine later after making a statement to the feds" Callie found herself begging, "I need you."

Arizona's shiny blue eyes lit up even further than Callie thought was humanly possible and the blonde's lips came crashing against hers so suddenly that it actually made her jump. The shock lasted for only a second though before her body automatically reacted and she began to kiss her back. It was just as desperate as the first kiss but unlike the first it was punctuated by Arizona pulling back slightly and telling her she loved her several times before diving into the kiss again. If anyone was watching them they probably looked like they had been apart from each other for years not weeks but right now Callie didn't care how publically they were displaying their affection. Finally Arizona pulled back for good and smiled at Callie, those cute little dimples forming on her face that Callie loved so much.

"I - will - see - you - later" Arizona punctuated her words clearly before sending a sexy smile Callie's way. It reminded her of the first time they had met when Arizona had kissed her in the bathroom at Joe's. She had flashed the same smile before turning and walking away that night and it had totally reawakened Callie's heart out of the coma it was in. It was from that moment that Callie had thought Dr Arizona Robbins, the perky little PEDs surgeon with the butterfly scrub cap, was the hottest thing on god's earth.

Watching Arizona walk back towards the building felt like the calm before the storm. The second Callie headed back inside she would be facing the horror of that day again so she lingered outside for a few more seconds allowing thoughts of Arizona and her soft lips fill her mind for a little while longer. Finally she took a deep breath and began to walk back into the hospital, it would only be a couple more hours before she could hold Arizona again and they could put this day behind them. Surely the next day had to be so much easier than this after all?


	2. The Little People

**Chapter 2**

Arizona had only literally just set foot on the first PEDs ward when she was approached by an angry parent. She had expected plenty of hassle but she had presumed she'd actually get through the doorway before being assaulted by someone.

"You" the man yelled, "you're my daughter's surgeon! You tell me what the hell has happened here!"

She bit down the urge to remind him that she was a surgeon not a cop and therefore it wasn't her area of expertise. It wasn't his fault that all the crap had happened after all and it was normal for parents to get irate over their kids safety. Unfortunately it wasn't normal for Arizona to feel so shaken up and irritable so it was hard to retain her usual cool with him.

"There was a shooter in the hospital and staff have been shot" Arizona stated as calmly as she could muster, "I don't know any more than that and at the time of the lock down I didn't even know that, so I am as shocked as you are I assure you."

The man made a grab for her and took a fist full of the front of her scrubs, pulling her towards him aggressively. Several nurses who were watching what was going on took a few steps towards them to intervene but Arizona raised her hand to notion for calm. She was hopeful that the man wouldn't hit her, and that he was just terrified.

"Shocked!" he spat out, "my child was trapped in this hospital with a killer and someone told me he was even on this floor at one point! Shocked doesn't cover it! How the hell was he just allowed to walk straight onto a floor full of children?"

Arizona tried to wriggle out of his grip on her scrubs but it wasn't remotely successful. When flight didn't work then her fight instinct began to kick in and her anger began to rise.

"I don't know, ask the cops who stood outside and let it all happen!" she snapped back at him, "I have friends lying in hospital beds or friends with loved ones lying in hospital beds and I have colleagues who been killed! I am just as angry and fraught and scared as you are!"

The man's grip on her scrubs loosened and then disappeared as he took a step away from her with a look of shame across his face. Arizona had made her point but she couldn't stop ranting now she had started, it just needed to come out.

"I know the shooter was on the damn floor because he came into the room where I was trying to make a young girl with an exploded appendix comfortable. He came into the room holding a gun and I was so terrified that he would hurt the little girl or that he'd hurt me...or that he'd shoot my girlfriend who was brave enough to put herself in harm's way to remove him from this part of the building. I am as angry and as terrified as you because I love my girlfriend like you love your son but shouting and getting upset will not take care of the sick children on this floor and it will not take care of your son."

Arizona wanted to kick herself after she'd finished. She'd told Alex once that you shouldn't berate terrified parents and she hadn't just ignored that rule, she had pretty much just stuck two fingers up at it.

"I'm sorry" the man spluttered, "I hope your friends are okay."

"No I'm sorry" Arizona countered, "that was incredibly unprofessional of me and..."

"Its fine" the man cut in, "It was totally thoughtless of me...of course this will have effected you, it's your workplace."

Arizona closed her eyes and composed herself as the man walked away and back to his son's bedside. It was harder being on the wards than she had thought it would be, it just didn't feel safe and comfortable now like it usually did. She wondered if it would ever feel like that again.

She made her rounds quickly; it was mainly post op cases as those that needed immediate surgery had been or where in the process of being moved. Only one that needed surgery remained and both of them stayed because the procedure needed to be done by Arizona and there was no other PEDs surgeon on this side of the States that could perform the procedures. Her surgery had been booked in for three days time and Arizona just hoped she was mentally prepared enough to do it by then.

After rounds she headed back towards the first couple of private rooms were two of the very recent 'miracle' post ops where housed. She was leaving via that route because she hoped seeing the two children that had survived against all odds would lift her somewhat. She discovered she wasn't the only one with that idea though because as she rounded the hallway corner she found Bailey staring through the glass window and into one of the rooms.

"Come to find a break in the clouds?" Arizona asked as she closed the space between them.

Bailey had obviously been so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed Arizona's approach until she had actually spoke. She didn't look like she minded being disturbed as she flashed Arizona a warm smile even if her eyes were still filled with sorrow.

"Today I just prayed that I was **anywhere** but here" Bailey admitted, "I had to find something that reminded me why I was here or I don't think I'd have been able to come back tomorrow."

Arizona wanted to hug bailey but she didn't know if the small but diminutive surgeon would appreciate that very much. Bailey always found it hard to open up and Arizona didn't want to scare her away when she obviously needed to talk.

"One of the nurses told me and Callie that you had a real scare with the gun man, are you okay?" Arizona asked softly.

"**No** but I will be" Bailey confessed, "but I'm incredibly ashamed of myself."

Arizona looked at Bailey quizzically; she had no idea what the small surgeon had to be ashamed about. As far as she knew, Bailey had no involvement with Mr Clark and the unfortunate mistake with his wife.

"I pretended I was a nurse" Bailey continued, "good doctor's died, Percy was shot right in front of me. I had to sit and watch him die, so helpless because I couldn't reach an OR. He asked me to tell Reed he loved her because he'd never been brave enough to tell her before but I can't, I can't because she's dead too. Good people died and I **pretended** I was a nurse because I was **so** scared."

Arizona felt a wave of sympathy with Bailey as she didn't feel like she had crowned herself in glory either. What Bailey had done was clever; it was quick thinking, unlike Arizona herself who had not been remotely clever. In fact her father and Callie's father would have been ashamed and disappointed with her if they had seen how she had fallen apart.

"I just disintegrated when I saw him" Arizona admitted, "I couldn't even formulate anything sensible to say...Callie was a hero and she put herself in so much danger and I just froze Bailey...I let her down ...I was nothing that I promised her father that I would be, I was too terrified to protect her...so much for a good man in a storm."

Arizona could feel the tears rolling down her face and was just relieved that she wasn't making any strangled sobbing noises. She couldn't see properly through the tears and was shocked when she suddenly found Bailey hugging her and was even more shocked when she could hear Bailey crying too.

"You too are back together though aren't you?" Bailey asked through the tears, "I saw you outside the hospital."

Arizona didn't know if she could speak so she stuck with a safe nod, knowing that Bailey would feel it because her chin was resting on the smaller woman's shoulder. Bailey squeezed her a little bit tighter before releasing her grip and stepping away from her.

"Then Callie obviously doesn't think you let her down" Bailey pointed out, "I think we can just safely say that you and I make much better surgeons that we'd make cops."

"Or gangster's" Arizona added, snickering through the tears that were now starting to clear. Bailey laughed too and rubbed her own face to remove evidence of her tears.

Bailey turned her attention back through the window to the young girl and her parents so Arizona followed suit. The scene in front of them was one of joy and great relief, partly due to the successful surgery that the girl had undergone the day before and partly because she had survived the carnage of that day.

"It's so horrible that some people will be leaving here today full of relief and happiness and others will walk away in such misery" Arizona said softly, voicing what was in her head without really planning too. Bailey turned to face her again and patted her on the side of her upper arm.

"Go home to your rekindled romance Robbins and do me one favour..." Bailey began.

"What's that?" Arizona asked, wondering if she was going to be instructed to keep Bailey's cuddling a secret.

"**Don't you dare be ashamed of being one of the happy people tonight**" Bailey instructed emotionally, "go home and be **happy** **and** **relieved** **and in love**...promise me!"

Arizona nodded in response, understanding were Bailey was coming from even if part of her did still feel guilty for those suffering like Lexie and Meredith. Bailey nodded back in response before turning and walking away down the corridor leaving Arizona stood watching the family alone.


	3. Aftermath

**Chapter 3**

Callie had headed straight towards the room where Sheppard was recovering post op, knowing that the likes of Meredith, Christina and Mark would be hanging around there. When she reached the hallway she found that her assumptions were correct and both Mark and Christina where stood outside the window, looking in at a vaguely conscious Derek talking to Meredith. The chief, or ex chief, was waiting too as was April and Owen who was sat on the floor against the wall wearing a sling for his heavily bandaged shoulder. She hadn't realised that Owen had been shot too but it looked like a basic through and through or something as he didn't look in a great amount of discomfort.

"Callie" Mark greeted her, "I'm glad to see you're okay I was so worried, is Robbin's okay too?"

"Oh don't make her cry" Christina cut in quickly, obviously still presuming that her and Arizona where still a non item.

"She's okay" Callie ignored Christina and replied to Mark, "We're shaken but fine."

She didn't think she'd said anything all that obvious but Mark's eyes instantly lit up and he grasped her hands with his own.

"Are you and Robbin's back on?" he asked excitedly, it was obviously the best thing that he'd heard all day. As he'd been trapped in a room with the love of his life and her injured boyfriend Callie wasn't surprised really.

"We are" Callie smiled back at him, "with our problems resolved."

"Robbin's has agreed to kids?" Mark was still grinning manically and Callie was sure she probably was too.

"All kinds of kids" Callie replied using some of Arizona's own words.

Mark wrestled her into a bear hug and she hugged him back just as vehemently until Christina cleared her throat behind them. Callie put Mark down and turned to face her flatmate, wondering what was wrong.

"I hope this means no more crying over your breakfast in the mornings?" Christina asked, giving her a knowing luck.

"I should think so" Callie replied, "how about you?"

"I have no idea" Christina admitted, her eyes briefly flickered towards Owen who seemed to understand he was being spoken about in some way.

"I do think you need to calm down before Meredith comes out though because her day hasn't been quite as cushy as yours" Christina pointed out.

"Derek is going to be okay though right?" Callie checked; the new chief certainly looked alright considering he'd been shot in the chest at close range.

"It's not just Derek" Christina sighed, "she was pregnant and she miscarried because of the stress."

Obviously Mark didn't know this part either because he swore in shock as Callie gasped. She felt like she was going to be sick and she was kind of glad that Arizona wasn't there to hear the news because it would probably put the blond right back off the idea of having kids again.

Callie slid down the wall and sat on the floor, copying Owen's stance. Everyone had fallen silent now and Callie felt like the shine had been taken off her reunion with Arizona although she was still desperate to get home and hold the blonde.

"I'm going to stay with Meredith tonight" Christina finally spoke up, "If you've got Arizona then that's the place I'm needed."

Callie nodded but caught sight of Owen looking a little hurt out the corner of her eye. Obviously something had happened between the two because it looked like Owen was waiting round for Christina and there was no sign of Teddy. Callie hoped that the two of them could work it out because she actually quite liked Owen and had got quite used to having him around the flat over the last year.

"Are you okay Owen?" Callie decided to speak to the lonely looking figure she was now sat opposite.

"I'm good thanks" Owen responded, "I'm glad you and Arizona are back together, it didn't seem right when you two where apart."

Callie gave him a warm smile but Christina just snorted. Callie felt a little sorry for him because she knew it would take Christina a while to forgive him even if he begged or did something heroic. In fact Callie had no idea how or why he'd been shot but it could have been doing something heroic for all she knew.

"You look tired" Mark informed her as took a seat on the floor next to her, "go home see your girlfriend."

"She'll be down in PEDs for a while yet" Callie explained but Mark just frowned at her.

"Go home and get some sleep before she finishes then" he corrected. "We've all got to be in tomorrow as normal to meet the temporary Chief of Surgery, one of the board turned up before to check on Derek and said they were appointing someone as we speak."

Callie couldn't believe her ears, she had just expected the old chief to step in for a couple of weeks but that sounded like they were bringing someone in from the outside. Callie really didn't think it would go down well with all the surgeons if some outsider came in at a time like this. Even if the old chief couldn't do it, why couldn't Mark or someone take the reins for a couple of weeks. An outsider would put Derek's job under severe threat, especially after the shooting.

"I keep thinking that this is it now, that this day is over" Christina spoke up, "but this is only beginning isn't it? The fallout is just about to kick off."

Obviously Callie wasn't the only one who was worried about a temporary chief coming in. Christina's words seemed to strike a chord with everyone and Mark flashed Callie a frustrated luck. He was probably pretty disappointed that the board had showed no respect for him by looking elsewhere.

"It doesn't matter who they bring in or what they try to say" Owen spoke up, "we stick together and we stick by Derek."

Everyone shared glances of agreement and it was the first time April and Webber had looked remotely involved in the conversation. Mark started to nod and it spread like a contagion around the six of them; even Webber was nodding.

Callie had wanted to wait round to see Meredith but it looked like she might be in there for a while with Derek. Christina would be lucky if she could actually persuade her to go home at all tonight. She knew that Christina would just sleep in the hospital with her best friend if that's what Meredith wanted to do. All Callie wanted to do now was crawl up in a heap and wish the day away with Arizona at her side.

"I'm going to head off" Callie informed them, "I guess I'll see you all in the morning."

Her intentions had been simple; she was going to give her statement to the feds and go home without any delays or distractions. The first part of her plan was done swiftly; she gave her statement and was cleared to leave by a male cop within fifteen minutes. Although she had encountered Gary Clarke she had not witnessed a shooting so all her statement provided was evidence of his movements and his mental state.

She headed to the attending surgeons locker room and changed out of her scrubs and into jeans and a loose shirt. She then headed out of the hospital through the main entrance, her normal route home, but instantly regretted it. Outside this entrance there was plenty of police activity and a body in a black bag was being wheeled into an ambulance there.

Stood there on the curb about five metres away from her was Avery. He was stood watching the proceedings with a very solemn look on his face and Callie suspected that he was holding back tears. She knew that he had been in surgery with Christina trying to save Derek but she knew nothing about what had happened to Avery in the run up to the surgery.

"Are you okay?" she cautiously approached him. He'd always seemed like a really nice guy when she had worked with him in the pit or during rounds but she didn't know him very well at all. He had come across from Mercy West during the merger and had actually fitted in quite well compared to some of the other Mercy-West staff who had kept themselves to themselves.

"That's Charles Percy" he informed her. It dawned on her then that the surgeons who had died had been from Mercy West and where people he knew well. Unlike her he had no-one close to him to comfort him in his grief in this hospital. She was about to ask him if he had anyone he could go stay with tonight when he turned his head towards her and spoke up again.

"I've known him since we I began my internship nearly five years ago. We were never best friends or anything but we got on well enough. I know he seemed like a bit of an ass sometimes but he wasn't, he just didn't deal with the merger well, he felt like an outsider."

Avery paused and turned his focus back to the body bag and the cops swarming around it. He seemed to be trying to recover some of his composure before he started crying and after a few seconds he began talking again without returning his gaze to Callie.

"I used to go out for drinks with him after work sometimes. April used to come with Reed sometimes too. He fancied Reed so bad, it was really obvious and he was so jealous when everyone was talking about her one night stand with Dr Sloan. I just watched them load her body into the back of an ambulance too. She was shot in the head. That bastard cold bloodedly shot her in the head for no good reason."

It said quite a lot about how unstable a character Gary Clarke was that he thought he was justified in shooting surgeons because it had been a surgeon who had turned off his wife's life support machine. To shoot a woman at close range in the head though seemed utterly crazy, especially as Reed had no part in his wife's treatment.

"I'm sorry" she said softly. It was a bit of a lame thing to say but she needed to fill this silence with something so that he knew she was listening to him. She was affected by his words though, not just because colleagues had been shot but because it could have been her or Arizona. How would she have felt if Arizona had been killed and the last words they had said to each other had been angry ones?

"She died straight away but Charles...he suffered a lot. He asked Bailey to tell Reed he loved her; Bailey came looking for her to tell her but she's dead. He didn't know she was dead. Do you think he can tell her himself now? Do you believe in an afterlife?"

She had heard that he had died in Bailey's arms and she couldn't imagine how that must have felt especially as Bailey tried to be so closed of emotionally. It would have been uncomfortable for her to tell Reed his dying message but it must have been even worse to find out she could not deliver it. She'd like to believe that somehow the message would get through. That Percy would be able to stroll up to Reed in heaven, take her into his arms and tell her how he felt. A few years ago she'd have been certain of an afterlife but her faith had been shaken severely since then. Her faith didn't totally accept her life choices and no matter how much she had prayed growing up bad things seemed to keep on happening. She wanted to believe though; she'd never completely given up hope on god.

"I believe that there has to be something after this" she finally replied. "Somewhere we can all find peace."

Avery sighed slightly and turned to face her fully. He looked a little more composed then he had before she had approached him and she hoped that it had done him good to get it of his chest.

"I hope so" he agreed. Silence descended between them again as the doors to the ambulance finally closed and it began to drive away. Once it was out of sight Avery stepped towards her and grasped her hand.

"I think it time to go home" he stated. "Thank you for doing this, for listening to me."

"No need to thank me" she squeezed his hand back and he released her. He looked like such a lost puppy that she reached forward and gave him a friendly hug which he responded too. When she pulled back he smiled at her warmly even though there was still sorrow in his eyes before turning and walking away towards the car park.

As she watched him walk away she considered what he had said about Charles and Reed again. It made her sad yet horribly relieved that it was them and not her and Arizona. Gary Clarke was right there in the PEDs wing with them and he could have shot either of them or both. How foolish they had both been not to bend for the other. If Arizona had been killed then Callie would have regretted the weeks they had spent apart over non-existent babies. Life was too short and too perilous to let fear and frustration ruin and waste any chances of love. From now on in she would fight for whatever happiness she could get and never fail to appreciate what she already has again.


	4. Reconnecting

**Chapter 4**

Arizona had not bothered going home and had just changed into something from her locker before making her way across the street to Callie's apartment building. Apprehension and excitement had been rising as she climbed the stairs to Callie's floor. She was excited because she had the love of her life back but they had so many things that needed discussing and lots of wounds that needed healing. It would be naive to presume that they would just fall straight back into each other's arms and everything would be instantly perfect again.

So as she tapped on the door she steadied herself so she was ready for all the awkward conversations that were probably about to occur that night. She was not going to let Calliope Torres get away this time so she was going to damn well cope with being criticised for her behaviour and for what she'd said earlier that day.

The door swung open to reveal a dishevelled Callie who looked like she had just been woken up. Arizona instantly felt guilty for waking her but she no longer had a key to the apartment and had to knock to gain access.

"Did I wake you?" she asked the question even though she already knew the answer.

"I thought I'd get some sleep before you arrived" Callie replied before yawning.

"In your jeans?" If she had planned to sleep Arizona didn't understand why she hadn't changed because she couldn't have been comfy on the sofa in what she was wearing.

"I wasn't planning on getting changed and having a shower alone" Callie replied silkily, flashing Arizona a flirtatious smile and tugging her into the apartment using her belt.

Arizona gasped involuntarily at Callie's words; she hadn't expected this kind of behaviour from Callie but she wasn't complaining. They could talk about everything else later after they had kissed some of the pain of the last few weeks away.

Arizona used her foot to swing the door shut behind her as Callie pulled her flush against her and Arizona instantly found Callie's lips with her own. The kiss was instantly deep as Callie willingly opened her mouth to receive Arizona's tongue and the two duelled for dominance in the kiss. It seemed to alternate between passionate and loving then desperate and full of want and all the while hands desperately roamed against each other's backs and hair and faces. Callie had deftly backed Arizona up a step and had her pinned against the wall which was slightly new territory for Arizona as she was usually the more dominant one of the two.

They broke apart for oxygen but within seconds of gasping their lips crashed together again and Callie nipped at Arizona's lip several times before delving in with her tongue again. Arizona felt like she was on sensory overload and all they were actually doing was kissing. She was trying to let Callie lead but the temptation to touch her was starting to get too much to ignore. So with one swift movement Arizona pushed Callie away from her slightly and dragged the Latino's purple top up and over her head. Callie looked slightly surprised to find her top gone so suddenly, especially when it was now half way across the room because Arizona had just tossed it.

"Oh hell yeah" Callie groaned as she launched forward and pinned Arizona again, returning the favour by virtually ripping her top off and depositing it on the floor. Arizona didn't have time to react before Callie's lips slammed against hers again and the Latino's hands where relieving her of her bra. Arizona gasped against Callie's lips as the taller woman pressed her naked back against the wall even harder and began unzipping her jeans. Arizona reached up to undo Callie's bra and catch her up with the stripping but her hands never quite made it. Instead she found herself clinging onto Callie's shoulders for dear life as the Latino reached into her pants and trust two fingers deep inside her. Arizona's legs felt totally weak and she really was relying on the fact she was pinned between Callie and the wall to keep her upright.

As Callie began to firmly thrust at a determined and regular rhythm, Arizona let go of her death grip on Callie's shoulder with one hand and slipped inside the brunette's jeans, mimicking her rhythm. Callie's spare hand was laced in Arizona's hair and the two continued to kiss as they moved their fingers inside of one another. They kept on briefly pulling away to suck in more oxygen before the next round of kissing started again in earnest. Even though their lips were pressed against each other's it did little to muffle the noises and groans they were making and Arizona was well aware that anyone walking down the corridor would be able to hear them and probably the people in the surrounding apartments.

The thrusting didn't have to go on for long as both were so turned on that it was easy for them to topple over the edge into orgasmic bliss. Arizona couldn't remember the last time that penetration alone had sent her tumbling over the edge but she wasn't complaining. The pair rested their foreheads together whilst they waited for their shaking bodies to calm down and Arizona used the opportunity to gently remove Callie of her bra so she could feel Callie's entire torso against her.

"I love you so much" Callie murmured into her ear, "I can't ever loose you again Arizona, you can't imagine how much the idea terrifies me."

Arizona smiled before kissing the brunette's lips softly and pulling away again. Rather than returning to resting their foreheads together she cupped Callie's cheeks and pulled Callie's chin up so they were eye to eye with each other. She was surprised to see how vulnerable her girlfriend suddenly looked and she knew that her words earlier that day must have had some effect on her.

"I love you too Calliope and I really can't lose you either" she assured her, "I'm sorry I said those things today, I was hurt and angry and I was unfair."

"I didn't exactly crown myself in glory either" Callie chuckled, "I was a complete bitch!"

Arizona joined in with Callie's chuckling before placing a brief kiss on her lover's lips again. Callie didn't seem satisfied with a simple peck and instantly leant forward and started an intense and passionate kiss which Arizona was more than happy to respond too.

"Can we take this into the bedroom?" Arizona asked softly after they broke apart again. Callie's hands had begun to move to her jeans again and Arizona wanted to actually get naked on a bed rather than just spending the evening having sex half dressed against the cold living room wall.

"Gladly" Callie responded with a smirk, allowing Arizona the space to step away from the wall she had been pinned against since she arrived in the apartment.

Arizona had only got a couple of steps away when she felt Callie's hand grasp her wrist, turning her back towards the brunette. Arizona raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend, curios to know why she was being prevented from reaching the bedroom.

"I'll still love you even if you decide you don't want children" Callie tugged Arizona back against her, "I only want a family with you, it wouldn't be the same with anybody else."

Arizona smiled even though Callie had turned all serious on her; it was for the best that they spoke about these things as soon as possible anyway.

"I want children with you" she informed the Latino who was looking at her intently. "I'm sorry I was so hostile about it originally but I was terrified...I'm still terrified about all the things that could go wrong. I've never loved someone so much that I'm terrified of losing them Callie, loving you scares me. The idea of adding little humans that I'm also terrified of losing into the equation just overloaded me and I pushed you away. If I learned one thing today it was that life is too short to let stupid fears rule us."

Arizona hadn't really looked Callie in the eyes during her speech but once she had finished she allowed herself to make eye contact, hoping to see understanding there. She was pleased to see that the brunette's facial expression was loving and emotional.

"How stupid are we, I can't believe it took us a crazed gunman to sort our heads out!" Callie caused herself to chuckle again.

"It wasn't just Mr Clark Calliope" Arizona needed Callie to understand that she wasn't just agreeing to kids because of the scare they had been through today.

"Mr Clark's timely arrival and how you handled it may have helped clear the fog from my mind slightly but I was already well on my way. As we were stood there with Ruby before he came in I was watching you deal with her and you were wonderful. I just stood there and thought 'Arizona you ass look how great a mum she'd make!' I had been so set in the idea that I wasn't cut out to be a mother that I hadn't even considered what you'd be like. I don't need to be a great mother because you will be. I can be the father...I'll be good at that; I like being supportive and playing games and being stupid! I was going to tell you right there and then that I could do this whole family thing, I was just waiting for you to make eye contact with me and then we kind of got a little distracted by the bleeding mad man with a hand gun."

Suddenly Callie was crying, like really crying and Arizona wasn't entirely convinced they were happy tears. It wasn't quite the response she was expecting, she was hoping for happiness and kissing and great sex...not tears.

"I feel like an idiot!" Callie declared through the tears, "I should have given you time rather than just pressurising you constantly!"

Arizona pulled her close and hugged her; kissing her hair, her ears, her neck and her salty wet cheeks in an attempt to comfort her.

"Arizona I needed the mad gun man's intervention to make me see how much I couldn't live without you" Callie continued to sob. "I don't think I realised until today quite how much I did actually love you... It's like I found a whole new level of love that I didn't know existed."

Arizona didn't want Callie to wallow in misplaced guilt and decided to take a very direct approach in resolving the issue. Sometimes talking wasn't the only way to deal with issues and actions can say more than a thousand words. Callie's display of bravery by putting herself in between the gun man and Arizona was a fine example of just that as it had eradicated Arizona's doubts about how Callie felt for her in an instant.

"Show me" Arizona instructed gently, "show me this whole new level."

Callie's wet eyes were suddenly no longer looking downwards at the floor and instead were burning desire and directed straight at Arizona.

"You mean?" she asked hoarsely, high emotion clear in her voice.

"Show me" Arizona repeated her earlier command in barely more than a whisper but her blue eyes screamed her desire.

Callie didn't need prompting again and she dragged Arizona's face towards hers and kissed her firmly on the lips. Arizona expected Callie to lead her towards the bedroom once the kiss had ended but instead the Latino surprised her by just dragging the pair of them down onto the floor where they had just been standing. Obviously Callie was pretty confident Christina wasn't going to be around tonight. Arizona considered asking Callie if they could head towards the bedroom again but Callie's lips crashed against hers again and again and the brunette was still crying so Arizona decided to just go with the her emotional lovers flow. There were worst places to be than lying side by side on the floor in Callie's apartment after all.

Callie's hands began to remove her jeans and panties as the brunette's lips continued their assault on hers. Arizona soon found herself forgetting about the unusual location they had set up camp in and instead busied herself with removing Callie's jeans too. Once their jeans were removed Callie rolled on top of Arizona so they were pushed flush against each other and completely naked causing Arizona to moan at the sudden contact. She moaned again as Callie began to kiss and nip at her neck and collarbone. Finally Callie's tears seemed to subside as she worked her way down Arizona's body, exploring every inch of her with her lips and repeating the words 'I love you' again and again in-between kisses.

The words subsided when Callie reached her destination between Arizona's legs or at least Arizona presumed they had but she may have overpowered them with her moans of pleasure. Callie was in no rush and seemed to be determined to drag out Arizona's impending orgasm by teasing her something rotten. Arizona may have complained if the resulting orgasm hadn't been quite so epic but as it took her several minutes to recover she decided that allowing Callie to tease her for over twenty minutes had been well worth its while. She could feel Callie kissing her cheek and forehead as her head spun and her heart pounded until finally she felt coherent enough to talk again.

"That was so amazing" she informed Callie, "but we really should carry this on in your bed because I think I have carpet burns!"

"Are you okay?" Callie's voice was filled with concern.

"Better than okay!" Arizona assured her, "If you follow me into the bedroom I'll show exactly how okay I am by reciprocating what you've just done to me!"

With that Arizona clambered to her feet and began to walk towards the bedroom, amused to find that Callie was so eager that she raced past her and actually jumped onto the bed. It was highly adorable and Arizona was pleased to see that Callie was now in much higher spirits than she'd been before their last round of love making.

"I love you" she informed Callie as the brunette shuffled under the covers, "I love you so damn much!"

Now it was Arizona's turn to put her feelings into her actions, an opportunity she was very much looking forward too after their month apart.


	5. Unveiling

**Chapter 5**

Callie woke gradually; pleased to feel Arizona's warm body spooned against the front of hers still. She had missed this part the most of all when they had been apart, she loved all the cuddling the two of them did both in and out of bed. It was about ten minutes before her alarm was due to go off and it was a miracle she was awake because they had only been asleep for about two hours, although they did sneak an hour nap in earlier in the night.

Deciding to wake Arizona now, even though it was a little mean, she began to gently place soft kisses against the base of her neck and her shoulder. The pretty blonde stirred slightly but did not wake so Callie decided her sleeping lover needed a bit more stimulation if she was going to wake her so she nipped at the point where her neck met her shoulder.

"Calliope" Arizona moaned sleepily, "you are insatiable!"

"Awww hun I wish" Callie chuckled, "we need to get up and go to work in a minute; I just wanted some morning cuddles first!"

Callie was pleased when Arizona turned in her arms so that she was facing her. The blonde looked tussled, sleepy and incredibly cute. Callie couldn't resist dropping tiny kisses on Arizona's nose and eyelids causing the blonde to smile at her ministrations.

"I love you" Arizona mumbled dreamily, "and even if I collapse because of exhaustion today I'll still love you."

Callie chuckled before pulling Arizona in for a lengthy but lazy kiss to which the blonde responded to by moaning contentedly against her mouth.

"How can you be so awake?" Arizona mused when the kiss ended. Callie began to trace patterns with her forefinger on the sensitive skin above Arizona's collarbones as she contemplated whether or not to explain to Arizona what she was thinking.

"It's the first time in days that I haven't woke up and wanted to cry" she finally admitted, "so I feel pretty damn good even though I haven't slept much."

"I never wanted to be the cause of any pain to you" Arizona replied emotionally, "I'm so sorry."

Callie pulled Arizona as close to her as she possibly get her without breaking out the scalpels and stitches and melding them together. This definitely wasn't the time for either of them to be getting upset over what was now the past.

"I hope Meredith and Lexie are okay" Callie changed the subject, "I never got the chance to talk to them yesterday...or Bailey."

"Bailey is okay" Arizona informed her, "a bit shaken but then she did have to watch Charles die so that's understandable..."

"When did you see Bailey?" Callie hadn't seen the small surgeon around the hospital after it had all ended yesterday and had presumed she'd gone home.

"I was in the department looking at the miniature human miracles" Arizona explained, "we had the same idea apparently."

That made sense really, Bailey had taken Callie up to the Paediatrics department a few times after gruelling days and Callie kicked herself for not thinking of looking there for her. Callie always worried about how closed of Bailey got when she had problems but at least Arizona had spoken to her.

"The whole hospital is really shuck up" Callie stated. "I stood with Avery whilst they loaded his friend's body into an ambulance. He was devastated. How does a hospital move on from this? How does anyone move on from this?"

Callie's thought's were interrupted by a distant noise which sounded like it was coming from somewhere inside the department. After listening closely she realized it was a low buzz and a beeping noise.

"Is that our pagers going off?" Arizona asked, "Please tell me there isn't a major medical emergency today I don't think I could handle it after yesterday!"

Callie wrapped one of the sheets around herself even though she was pretty sure Christina was still at Meredith's and went out to the living room to retrieve their pagers from the clothing they had removed last night. She located both pagers before checking what hers said as she walked back to the bedroom where an edgy Arizona still sat up in the bed.

"What does it say?" the blonde asked nervously, "Everyone is okay aren't they?"

Callie had been worried about the pager containing bad news too, she had instantly worried that Derek had suffered some sort of complication or that there had been a pile up on a freeway somewhere. Instead the news was a little irritating but nothing to get too worried about.

"All surgeons need to be in the lobby at ten to eight unless they have a medical emergency" Callie explained, "the temporary chief is being unveiled."

Arizona wrinkled her nose in disgust which made Callie inwardly giggle. It was only ten minutes earlier than they were meant to arrive for their shifts but it seemed like a major inconvenience considering nobody wanted an outsider in right now. She had told Arizona about a temporary chief being appointed during one of their brief lulls during the night. The blonde had been pretty unimpressed that the board hadn't just asked Webber to do it. They had not lingered on the topic long for fear of ruining the night; both had been happy to find escape in the other. Reality would bite this morning and they would have to deal with the cataclysmic event that rocked their workplace, their home, the day before.

"We better get a move on then" the blonde muttered. Arizona didn't bother covering herself as she climbed out of the bed and swiftly pulled the sheet that Callie had wrapped around her off.

"What...?" Callie began to ask in confusion but Arizona's lips silenced her.

After a few seconds Arizona pulled away and smiled before grabbing Callie's hand and guiding her towards the bathroom.

"Oh okay!" Callie giggled when she realised what was happening. She was more than happy to have Arizona distract her from what was going on at the hospital for a little while longer.

Callie couldn't help but giggle at Arizona's discomfort as they marched down the halls of the hospital. They had gone straight to the locker room to change into their scrubs and were now on their way to meet the temp chief. The blonde was walking oddly and it was going to take the likes of Christina and Mark about five seconds to realise why.

"Stop laughing" Arizona grumbled, "I'm so sore I can barely walk! I told you we couldn't go at it a second time in the shower but noooooo what did you do!"

"You didn't complain once I'd actually started!" Callie replied defensively, even though she did feel a little guilty for causing her girlfriend discomfort. Obviously there was a physical limit to the amount of times you could have sex over the period of twelve hours. Perhaps she should write a thesis on it because the research would be really fun; 'super' fun in fact.

"You're still smiling" Arizona pointed out grumpily as they entered the hospital lobby. There was already several surgeons stood round waiting even though they were five minutes early. These surgeons included Mark, Christina, Meredith, Lexie and Bailey who were stood together and Teddy and Owen where also in the lobby although the two were not stood together. Callie's attention was dragged back to Arizona when the blonde cleared her throat. Callie glanced over at her girlfriend who still looked unimpressed by her amusement at the situation. However, Arizona's ire only made her look all the more stunning than usual to Callie.

"You're so hot" Callie informed her without thinking. It left the blonde a little bit stunned because she didn't react immediately. After a few seconds Callie was amused to see a warm smile spreading across the blonde's face. Obviously all was forgiven.

"Callie, Robbins!" Mark called their names so the two headed over to their group of friends. It really didn't take long for some of them to notice Arizona's pain because the second they reached the group Christina was sniggering.

"That Meredith is the real reason I stayed at yours last night" Christina stated, "it was nothing to do with our friendship it was all down to the Duracell bunnies here because I knew they'd be sexed up for hours!"

The group erupted into laughter apart from Lexie who gave Arizona a sympathetic look. Arizona looked totally unimpressed and slid through the small crowd of howling surgeons so that she could stand by the less offensive Lexie and Bailey. Callie gave Christina a reproachful look which just made the three laugh harder at their expense.

"Chill Torres" Mark finally tried to calm it down, "we are just glad the two of you are back together!"

Callie gave him a friendly pat and he responded by giving her a friendly hug. The three seemed to calm very quickly and it dawned on Callie that all of them probably needed something to laugh at as all three must be feeling like crap after yesterday.

She vaguely registered some conversation behind her between Lexie and Arizona about Alex and Derek which Meredith was drawn into.

"What time did you get home last night?" Callie asked Mark, noticing that he looked really tired.

"I slept here" he admitted, "Teddy, Owen and I stayed in the on call rooms in case we were needed in the night. The hospital is a little short staffed right now and Webber only had one other attending surgeon with him last night."

"Owen was shot yesterday!" Callie exclaimed; she couldn't believe he was still trying to work.

"He's not the kind to sit around" Mark pointed out, "I stayed in the on call room with him though in case he had any problems in the night. I didn't tell him that though or he'd have protested, I just snuck in after he'd gone to sleep and slept in the top bunk!"

Callie gave Mark another friendly hug, impressed at how thoughtful he'd been. She was surprised to find another set of arms around him, especially when she looked up to find Christina hugging him too. Mark looked just as shocked as she did but he gave Christina a comforting pat on the shoulders.

"Sorry" she said as she pulled away, "I'm glad you kept an eye on him, thank you."

"Erm...my pleasure" Mark stuttered in surprise. It occurred to Callie that over the last few months they had all been doing some 'growing', even Christina of all people.

"Oh I had a talk with Teddy" Mark turned his attention back to Callie, "we've decided to be friends for now and see how it goes. I'm in love with Lexie and she's in love with Owen but they both love other people apparently so that's not a good basis for a healthy relationship. We are going to be miserable together and see if it blossoms!"

Callie smirked at Mark, he really was 'growing' if he was happy with that situation but he genuinely seemed to think it was a great idea. She noticed Christina smile slightly at the mention of Owen loving another which meant that the two may be back together soon too. If Christina was still mad then she would be scowling not smiling no matter how nice the sentiment may have been.

"Any idea who the temporary chief is?" Callie wondered out loud as she noticed more staff pooling into the lobby area.

"Yes... I'm having another really bad day already" Christina informed Callie with a straight face.

"I saw one of the board members this morning and all they would tell me is that they have worked in the hospital before so they know the ropes" Mark explained. "Rumour is that it's Burke."

Callie instantly felt sorry for her flatmate. Preston Burke, Christina's ex fiancée, was a great cardio surgeon and he had been Christina's early mentor but he was the last person she would want to see right now. In fact, she expected that Christina would probably be happy with never seeing him again. She could hear one of the boards of directors stating to hush them all down so she quickly back to face Christina.

"Are you okay?" she asked her flatmate, just as the woman's face changed to horror.

"I'm fine" Christina muttered, "It's not me who's got a problem."

Callie looked at her in confusion and then realised that Lexie and Bailey and the people who where currently facing her where all looking at her in the same worried way except for Arizona. Marks hand seemed to grasp at her arm so Callie turned slowly to face the stairway again, realisation starting to hit her just as the temporary chief began to introduce themselves. The person she saw stood there was unmistakable and it was someone she had never really wanted to see again. Erica Hahn was stood there like nothing had ever happened, like she owned the place, like she hadn't just upped and left the hospital and Callie without so much as a goodbye. Callie felt herself freeze and it felt like the room was spinning and if Mark wasn't leaning into her then she had a sneaky suspicion that she may have actually fell over.


	6. How many bricks are there in Seattle?

**Chapter 6**

Arizona was confused by the people's reactions around her as most people looked in a state of shock. It wasn't till she saw Mark propping Callie up that it occurred to her who the blonde woman was.

"For those that don't know me I'm Dr Erica Hahn," the blonde confirmed Arizona's fears as she began to introduce herself. She felt her muscles tighten and tense as she tried to gage her girlfriend's reaction but as she was stood behind Callie it was hard for her to judge. The only thing she could tell was that Callie was shocked because she had nearly fell over when Hahn had walked out.

"I don't need to tell you how to do your jobs so I'm not going to preach about surgeries and league tables to you. All I want to say is that I know you are all shocked and upset by yesterday's events and you are probably very angry that something like this could happen."

During the first part of Erica's speech Arizona saw and felt Callie's free hand reaching back for her so she took it and squeezed gently, offering her support. Callie didn't seem satisfied with just a squeeze and tugged her forward so she was pressed against the brunettes back, wrapping Arizona's arm around her waist and clinging onto the hand with a death grip. Mark still had hold of Callie's other hand and Arizona suspected that she had a death grip on him too. Arizona was a little worried that Callie was reacting quite so much to Erica's arrival but was glad that she hadn't just forgot her presence and was actively seeking comfort from her. Arizona vaguely registered a supportive hand coming to rest on her back and she glanced sideways to find that Lexie had stepped closer to her and Callie. She gave Lexie an appreciative smile because she really did need some support right now.

"An investigation is being launched but meanwhile we need to get on with our jobs and save lives. My tenure here may only be a temporary one but I'm looking forward to working with you all. Thank you for your time and I'll be making my way round and trying to speak to you all within the next forty eight hours."

Arizona found it hard to see Hahn throughout the speech because Callie was taller than her so she had to pear around her girlfriends shoulder. It wasn't hard to notice how the temporary chiefs eyes kept on lingering on Callie though and it irked Arizona a little bit. If she could feel her blood starting to boil now then how was she going to cope with Hahn being in the hospital for a couple of weeks or, god forbid, a month.

Hahn started stepping down the stairs towards the group of surgeons and Callie majorly tensed. Arizona was about to lead her away from the crowd so she could escape but as they went to move off a nurse stealthily approached and grabbed her attention.

"Dr Robbins you're needed in the ER, there is a boy with chronic stomach pains" the nurse informed her before leaving as quickly as she had came.

Callie looked at her in horror but there was absolutely nothing Arizona could do about it. It was her job and she had to go now even though she dreaded leaving her with Hahn.

"Go" Mark instructed, "I'll get her out of here!"

She was relieved that Mark was rescuing her girlfriend so she flashed him a grateful smile and squeezed Callie's hand reassuringly before turning to leave. A few surgeons followed her towards the ER and Teddy and Christina seemed to be hot on her heels. She suspected that they may have wanted to speak to her about Hahn but she wasn't really in the mood for a chat right now and she kept her head down and power walked to her destination.

She went straight over to the boy sat on one of the beds as he was holding his stomach and therefore was a good bet to be her patient. Nobody could speak to her if she was with a patient so for now she was safe. She had only just introduced herself to the boy and his mother when she realised that Erica Hahn had also walked to the ER too. As much as she tried to concentrate on the patient she could see Hahn heading towards Teddy at the nurses' station and it was totally distracting her.

"I'm sorry will you just excuse me for a minute?" she edged away from the patient and went to stand at the other end of the nurses' station. She idly began looking for the boys records on one of the computers because apparently he had been in the hospital three years before with the same issue. Arizona watched out the corner of her eye as Hahn waited for a nurse to finish speaking to Teddy before getting the heart surgeons attention.

"Dr Altman" Hahn got Teddy's attention. "I just wanted to assure you that I'm not going to be stepping on your toes whilst I'm here. It would be nice to get in a couple of surgeries but I imagine I'll spend most of the time doing paperwork!"

Arizona knew it was silly to eavesdrop but she couldn't help but be curious about what Erica Hahn was like as a person. She needed to see what had attracted Callie to her in the first place so Arizona could assure herself of her own superiority. So far Hahn seemed pleasant enough although you could tell by her tone of voice that she saw herself as a superior surgeon to Teddy.

"I didn't expect you to step on my toes Dr Hahn" Teddy replied curtly, "nor would I allow you too."

Arizona managed to suppress a snort as she listened to her friend stand her ground. Teddy's face remained professional and pleasant but Hahn had clearly soured slightly.

"Quite" Hahn grumbled before taking a deep breath. If she intended to say anything else to Teddy then she was foiled by an eager Christina Yang who had been lurking just behind her whilst she addressed Teddy.

"Dr Hahn" Christina burst in, "can I speak to you for a second?"

Erica rolled her eyes before swinging round to face Christina. This meant that Hahn now had her back to Arizona but she was still close enough for her to eavesdrop on.

"Yang" Hahn groaned, "I saw Dr Torres running in the direction of the on call room with Mark Sloan, I suppose the two are still bed buddies?"

Arizona felt her blood boil; firstly because of what she'd said but secondly because she had said it without any provocation. Teddy, who was still stood next to Hahn, looked stunned too but Christina just looked unimpressed.

"Callie has a girlfriend" Christina stated bluntly, causing Hahn to snort in response.

"I gathered" Hahn replied, shooting Arizona a snide look which Arizona pretended not to see as she stared at the computer screen.

"She's very happy so you should leave her the hell alone and crawl back under whatever rock you've been hiding under," Christina continued calmly.

Arizona wanted to launch across the nurses' station and hug Christina before smacking Hahn but she resisted temptation and continued to pull up the boy's records.

"Pardon!" Hahn obviously wasn't impressed. "I hope you don't expect to scrub in on any surgery I may undertake whilst hear Yang!" she snapped at Callie's roommate.

"No, Dr Altman is a great teacher so I'm good thanks!" Christina snarled back before grabbing a grinning Teddy's hand and pulling her away from Hahn and further into the ER. Arizona watched them walk away and couldn't resist a smile when she heard the two braking out into a fit of laughter when they got out of sight. It was good to see the two interacting again after the 'Owen issue' had blown up. Arizona knew that Teddy actually liked and respected Christina and felt terrible for being the cause of upset for her.

Unlike the other two Hahn looked like she was about to implode. Arizona was just about to move away from the nurses' station and collect the pages she had just printed out about the boy's medical history when Hahn turned to look directly at her.

"You" the temporary chief addressed her, "who are you?"

"Dr Arizona Robbins" she replied as politely as she could muster considering the woman had referred to her as 'you'.

"The PEDs surgeon? Callie is dating a PEDs surgeon? Whatever!" Hahn scoffed, making it sound really derogatory. Arizona didn't get the chance to snap back at her though because Hahn was already storming away and out of the ER. If she hadn't had a patient to treat then she'd have followed her and gave her a piece of her mind, to hell with her authority issues. She had to remain professional though even If Hahn wasn't. Even so her face must have been like thunder because suddenly Lexie was right next to her with her hand on Arizona's arm. She had no idea where the younger Grey had actually come from but it was obvious that she must have heard at least part of what Hahn had been saying.

"Are you okay?" the brunette asked, giving her an encouraging squeeze. Arizona looked at Lexie and then to the exit of the ER where Hahn had just marched out of.

"I want to hit her with a brick" Arizona admitted, "In fact I want to hit her with every brick and every slab of concrete in Seattle!"

Lexie seemed to pause and look at her like she was weighing her up. Perhaps the brunette thought she was joking but Arizona was deadly serious. If it was physically possible she'd really enjoy beating Hahn with all the building material in the city."Ignore her" Lexie suddenly implored, "She's not worth worrying about."

"I hope not" Arizona admitted, "I don't think she's just here to be the temporary chief though."

She was pretty sure that Hahn had winning Callie back on her agenda and probably expected that she may be in the run in to get the job permanently considering what had just occurred under Derek's tenure.

"No" Lexie agreed, "but I think she's in for a shock because not many people, if any, want her here."

Arizona was glad to have Lexie there offering support yet again. During the break up Lexie and Teddy had been the only people who she could really talk to about it all. She had expected to be able to talk to Teddy but Lexie had actually approached her and offered support. Perhaps it was because she'd recently experienced a painful break up too but the pair had always got on well. Lexie had actually spent a lot of time working with Arizona over the last couple of weeks as she'd somehow managed to persuade Bailey to let her stay on PEDs; even when she was meant to be rotated off somewhere else. Today she was on general surgery in the ER but Arizona was short in PEDs so she decided to steal Lexie away whilst she wasn't needed.

"You free to come help me with my chronic stomach pain patient?" Arizona asked, "I could do with the Lexipedia!"

"Are they going to assault me the second I prod their stomach?" Lexie asked cautiously, obviously checking there wasn't a downside to the offer.

There had been an unfortunate incident the week before where one of the young boys had bit her whilst she was trying to take a blood test. Even though it shouldn't really have been funny it had given Arizona the first genuine chance to laugh in days. Though, ever since then Lexie had been a little paranoid that she was being given the worst jobs. A theory not helped two days later when a young girl peed on her because she was so scared of being in the hospital.

"I don't think so!" Arizona chuckled, "I prodded him before and he didn't try to kill me. I just need a friend around me right now so I don't kick Hahn's ass!"

Lexie smiled and began to walk towards their patient but she stopped before she reached him. She swung around to face Arizona who had nearly caught up to her with the printouts.

"Do you really reckon you could beat Erica in a fight?" Lexie smirked, "she does look like the vicious rip your hair out kind!"

"I could" Arizona replied calmly.

Lexie shrugged like she didn't believe her and began to walk towards the patient again. Arizona couldn't believe that Lexie thought Hahn would win in a fight; didn't she know Arizona came from an army family? Her dad had taught her how to throw a proper punch with both fists before she was ten!

"Hey!" Arizona protested a little too loudly, "I could totally kick Hahn's ass of her temporary throne!"


	7. Cornered!

**Chapter 7**

Mark had dragged Callie away from the oncoming Hahn and they had escaped round the corner from the lobby and towards the nearest on call room. Callie really needed to talk Hahn's reappearance through with someone, preferably Arizona but unfortunately she'd been dragged away before they had even left the lobby. She would have happily made do with talking it through with Mark but then he'd been paged away before they reached the on call room. So instead she sat in the on call room on her own to calm herself down a bit. Even that got cut short by her pager going off, she had been called to orthopaedics.

She'd put a brave face on it and made her way to one of her patients who was complaining of exceptional pain in an area or bone she had very recently operated on. The exceptional pain was obviously just 'normal' pain after such a bad break but Callie sent him for X-rays anyway just to shut him up. Her bedside manner had been lacking a bit because she was really unimpressed at having been dragged away for this as it wasn't even remotely distracting. If she'd been called away to reset some bones or something then at least she'd have had something fun to do.

All she could think about was the fact that Erica was back and that she had to actually deal with the woman because she was her temporary boss. If Erica had just appeared in Seattle for a surgery then Callie would have just avoided her for her stay but that would be completely impossible under these circumstances. Worse than that she had a feeling that Erica was actually going to seek her out after seeing the glances that the self proclaimed goddess of cardiac had been throwing her throughout her opening speech. Callie really wasn't sure if she wanted to hear anything that Erica had to say to her but at the same time she kind of wanted an apology and an explanation for the older woman just upping sticks on her and breaking her heart.

Callie asked one of the residents to page her if the X-rays showed any anomalies even though she was one hundred percent certain they would not. Once she'd put the patient onto somebody else she headed down to the ER to see if Arizona was still there, hoping that spending some time following her girlfriend around like a puppy would relax her a little.

On arriving at the ER she spoke to April, who was still visibly shook up after yesterday, and found that Arizona had already admitted the patient and was on the PEDs wing. She had every intention of going to hunt her girlfriend down there but then an emergency was rang through and she was forced to wait around for the three ambulances because it was a road accident and there was bound to be breaks. Bailey, Meredith, Teddy and Christina all headed out with her and within minutes two ambulances arrived and deposited a man who had suffered a heart attack at the wheel and a woman who had been in the car he had hit. He didn't seem to have any obvious breaks and the major concern for him was his heart so Teddy and Christina took charge of him. Callie took charge of the woman and asked a nurse to page Mark because not only did she have a badly broken leg and probably fractures to the ribs, she also had a huge facial laceration. Bailey and Meredith waited outside to receive the third ambulance which apparently contained one of the car's passengers.

Once inside the ER she gave her a quick examination and was pretty confident that there were no major internal injuries and it was just broken bones and broken skin she had to deal with. The woman, Jane, was pretty calm although her injuries were causing her a lot of pain even though she was putting on a brave face about it. By the time she had completed her examination Mark had appeared in the ER and came striding over.

"You rang?" his tone was cheeky until he saw the patients face, "Jesus no wonder!"

"Nice Mark" Callie chastised him but Jane just laughed.

"I'm like one of the best plastic surgeons ever so do not worry" Mark informed Jane smoothly, "I have amazing technique!"

Callie shot him another glare but again Jane just seemed to find him amusing so Callie let it go. It was probably quite comforting to have someone flirting with you if you were in her situation anyway because knowing half your face was hanging off was likely to dint your self confidence somewhat.

"I've examined her and I think we can get her prepped and into surgery immediately because that leg needs attention now" Callie informed him.

"That's fine by me" Mark agreed, "I'll go ask a nurse to prep her and I'm going to get a couple of interns in on this one as well."

Callie wondered if that meant he was going to try and find Lexie and get her involved because she was the most promising intern and the one most likely to go into plastics. Instead he headed away from her and to two other interns that were standing watching Bailey's patient who had just arrived and started giving them instructions. Callie's heart really did go out for him over Lexie but Teddy seemed nice and if her and Mark shacked up eventually then it would probably help her flatmate and Owen Hunt get over their issues. She certainly knew that Arizona would approve of Teddy but she personally hoped he and Lexie would sort themselves out. Even though she'd thought them a weird couple at first she actually did think they were well suited and had been good together.

"Jane I'm going to send you with a couple of nurses who will get you x-rayed and prep you for surgery" she informed her patient. "I'm not sure how long surgery will take, I'll have a better idea after I've seen the extent of the rib fractures but whilst I sort out your bones Dr Sloan will operate on your face at the same time. I'm sure this is all pretty terrifying but it's going to be okay I promise you."

Jane seemed calm so Callie let the nurses who had finally appeared to help her wheel the patient away and up to X-ray. She had about twenty minutes before the X-rays would come back as she'd put the patient through as an emergency so she decided to sneak that quick visit up to Paediatrics now before she had to spend hours in the OR.

She was just grabbing the patient's admittance chart from before she left when somebody grasped her arm and pulled her around to face them. She had expected it to be Arizona as the hand was too small and feminine to be Marks and who else would grab her rather than just call her name?

Apparently Erica Hahn would because that was who she found herself facing once she'd completed the turn. She looked round for Mark in the hope that he would come save her but he was nowhere to be seen. He had obviously taken the two interns to prep for surgery already. She was stuck and she didn't want to run away and make a scene so she stood rooted to the spot waiting for Erica to say whatever she wanted to say to her.

"Callie" Erica greeted pleasantly. Callie felt quite un-nerved by the broad smile that Erica was aiming at her and didn't respond. She had just got distracted enough by a patient to put Erica's sudden appearance out of her mind, but no, here was Erica intent on invading it again.

"How are you?" Erica gestured for Callie to say something by nodding her head at her. Callie knew she had to start talking or she'd look like a complete fool so she started to blurt words out.

"Fine!" Callie informed her a little too tersely, "Good, great, better than fine...apart from all the blood and death and misery after yesterday of course...that wasn't great or fine or..."

Callie realised that she had probably seemed less foolish when she wasn't speaking so shut up quickly. What's that saying? It's better to appear stupid rather than open one's mouth and remove all doubt!

"Riiiiight!" Erica's tone was scarily familiar and Callie couldn't believe that she was being so normal and friendly. It was like Erica wasn't even registering the fact that Callie may be reluctant to speak to her.

"I've been looking for you" Erica stated, "Do you want to grab a drink with me later?"

Callie's mouth must have gaped open because she couldn't believe that Erica had the audacity to just ask her to hang out like nothing had happened. She couldn't even put together a coherent reply in her head because she was that shocked.

"Okay I know you must be angry with me" Erica reasoned after several long moments of silence. "I'd really like to talk to you away from the hospital because I think I owe you some sort of explanation for what happened last year. We're going to be working together again so I think we need to clear the air."

If Callie though that she had been shocked before then now she was virtually catatonic due to the surprise. She had no idea how to deal with this situation and it would have been so much easier if Erica had returned to Seattle still angry with her rather than acting like this. This was the Erica she tried to forget, the pleasant Erica that had become her best friend and then her first girlfriend. This was not the Erica that walked away from her that night in the parking lot. She'd only really remembered the bad bits and blocked out the good so this was a real shock to the system.

"Okay" she heard the words leave her own mouth and couldn't believe she was saying them. Half of her was telling her to take it back and tell Erica to leave her alone but the other half still wanted that explanation. She was just too shook up to argue and it seemed easier just to give in; it was only a drink after all.

"Great I'll meet you at eight in the lobby!" exclaimed a scarily chipper Erica.

"Eight...great yeah" Callie said with much less conviction; still wondering what the hell she had just gotten herself into.

Erica seemed happy to leave the conversation at that and let go of Callie's arm before turning and walking off. Callie hadn't even noticed that Erica had kept hold of her arm throughout the rather one sided 'conversation' until it had been released. She had been thrown into that much of a loop that she didn't even notice several staff members staring at her until after Erica had gone.

"What?" she grumbled before dashing out the ER and after her patient. She had just wasted time talking to Erica and now she wouldn't have time to sneak up and see Arizona. Instead she had to make do with paging her and telling her she would be in surgery so wouldn't be able to meet her at the cafeteria for lunch. She decided against telling her about Erica over her pager, she'd explain later after she'd finished surgery.


	8. Danger Danger

Authors Note: I know I'm making some people nervous but keep reading. It's a Calzona fic and it going to be true to the characters. So if you're worried about what the outcome is going to be then you really don't trust the characters! Can I be cheeky and ask for feedback pretty please?

**Chapter 8**

Arizona was pretty sure she knew what was wrong with her young patient but she needed scans to confirm her hunch and show the extent of the problem. Gallbladder problems were uncommon in children but they could be incredibly severe and Arizona suspected the boy may need his gallbladder removed.

She had been waiting for ten minutes for Lexie to return so she could discuss her preliminary diagnosis with the promising intern. The boy's mother had left her coat in the ER so Lexie had gone to collect it but she had been gone longer than Arizona had expected. She had been busying herself requesting the CT and blood tests and by the time Lexie had reappeared the boy was already on his way for the scan.

"Hey, did you find the coat?" Arizona greeted her.

"Yeah, just gave it to Mrs Williams" Lexie's reply was quiet and she seemed a little awkward. Arizona wondered if it was something to do with Lexie's injured boyfriend, Alex Karev.

"You okay?" Arizona quizzed, "have you seen Alex today?"

"Before shift" Lexie replied quietly again, "he's okay, just a bit shocked I think."

Arizona was about to comment but then she heard giggling from the nurses' station that momentarily distracted her. Three female nurses were talking and giggling and seemed to be looking her way. Arizona wondered if it was something to do with return of Erica Hahn. Everyone seemed to have guessed about her and Callie's brief romance and Arizona and Callie hardly kept theirs a secret so it was bound to get people talking.

"You think he's got gallstones right?" Lexie's question brought Arizona's concentration back to the task at hand. She felt a little guilty that she was distracted because she prided herself on being totally dedicated to her patients. She really needed to get her head in gear and ignore the existence of Erica Hahn.

"I suspect his gallbladder may have failed full stop" Arizona admitted, "I'll be pleased if it's just a gallstone or two."

"**Acute cholecystitis?" Lexie asked. "He's showing symptoms of ****abdominal fullness, Fever, Nausea, vomiting and jaundice so it fits."**

"Go the Lexipedia" Arizona smirked. She didn't think she'd ever get used to Lexie's ability to hold information but it was impressive. She'd heard people comment about it before but she had only really experienced it within the last couple of months.

Considering Lexie should be looking happy she seemed to be looking at Arizona like she had three heads but Arizona couldn't put her finger on why. Her observations about the younger Grey then got distracted by a group of gossiping staff members who were coming round the corner. They were obviously discussing her because the second they realised Arizona was there they shut up.

"This is becoming really annoying" she hadn't meant to say it out loud but it came out loud enough to cause the nurses and doctor to suddenly scatter. Lexie's hand closed around her arm and Arizona turned to look at the young resident, expecting her to say something comforting. Instead the younger Grey seemed to look nervous and uncomfortable.

"Arizona I need to speak to you in private" Lexie said softly. Arizona knew that whatever the resident had to say involved something personal rather than professional because Lexie very rarely called her by her first name. She mustered a nod in response and led Lexie lead her by her arm away from the nurses' station and down the hall. It vaguely dawned on her when they reached Lexie's destination that this may get people talking even more as the young resident was leading her into the on call room.

"What's wrong Lexie?" she wanted to hurry the resident up because she was starting to get a little worried now.

"I wasn't going to say anything because it's Dr Torres right to tell you this... but I don't want you to hear through the nurse's idle gossip. When I was in the ER before I overheard Dr Torres and Dr Hahn talking and they are going for a drink together later. I'm sure it's nothing but other people overheard too and it's likely to get twisted out of all proportion whilst it's doing the rounds with all the gossipers."

Arizona took a moment or two to process what Lexie had said. She had never thought herself a massively jealous person before she started dating Callie but her girlfriend did seem to bring out the green eyed monster in her. She had found it a bit weird when she found out that Callie and Alex had slept together years ago and that was nothing compared to anything to do with Callie and Erica. No matter how much she didn't want to be she did feel threatened by Erica Hahn but she wasn't about to admit it to anyone.

"They do need to talk or there would be no way the two could work alongside each other amicably for the next couple of weeks" Arizona reasoned, leaving Lexie looking a little shocked.

"Thanks for telling me though" Arizona tried to sound cheery, "you're a good friend."

Lexie hadn't looked so sure that everything was okay but the young intern broke into a smile at the use of the word friend. Arizona realised that even though Lexie had been there for her throughout the break up with Callie she had never really said thank you for it. It was about time she did really.

"You were so helpful when I was having a rough time and if it wasn't for you and Teddy I'd have gone mad" she complimented Lexie, "I'm really grateful for that."

Lexie surprised her by giving her a bear hug but Arizona reciprocated causing the pair of them to giggle as they squished each other. Just then the door swung open and the two turned their heads to see who had walked in on them acting so childishly. Arizona was relieved to see it was only Meredith Grey and not anyone that would misinterpret what was going on.

"Hey Mer" Lexie greeted, "wanna join in? We're bonding!"

"Sure, I need a hug" Lexie's older half sister stated before wrapping her arms around the two of them and joining in. After a few seconds they all disentangled.

"How's Derek?" Both Arizona and Lexie asked at the same time.

"He's doing pretty good" Meredith smiled, "actually he sent me to find you, he wants to talk to you Dr Robbins if you are free?"

Arizona was surprised that he had asked for her but she was happy to take up the invitation. She got on with him quite well and respected him a lot, especially after he agreed to underwrite the costs of research for their patient that time when the hospital wouldn't. She would not have thought of doing that but once he said he'd put money in then she was up for doing so too.

"Yeah I'm free now" she finally responded, "Lexie if the scans come back whilst I'm gone then feel free to take a look before I get back."

Meredith had walked her to Derek's room and had explained to her what exactly had happened the day before. Arizona only really knew who had been injured or killed and she didn't know under what circumstances Derek and Owen had been shot. The whole story was horrifying and she bad for Meredith and Christina because the two of them had been through hell. Poor Christina did a fantastic job saving his life, it must be horrible to operate on your best friends loved one at the best of times, never mind when a crazed gun man is trying to stop you.

"Here you go" Meredith stopped outside one of the private rooms and gestured inside.

Arizona opened the door and slowly walked in, pleased to see that he was awake and actually trying to read a medical journal although he was clearly finding it difficult to do whilst lying down.

"You look healthy for someone who was shot in the chest less than twenty four hours ago Dr Sheppard!" Arizona greeted.

"Derek" he corrected, "I'm not your boss right now, and this is a personal call."

Arizona smirked and sat on the seat beside his bed as he fumbled the magazine onto the stand on the other side of the bed. She really had no idea why he had called for her but it was nice to see how well he was doing.

"Arizona if I had known who they were bringing in temporarily I'd have warned you and Callie but I only found out about thirty minutes ago when I woke up. I just wanted to speak to you about it though because although I don't know the details of what transpired between Callie and Hahn I know something did. It must be very strange for the both of you having her here."

Arizona was surprised that he wanted to talk to her about Hahn but she could sense by his tone that although he was saying it as a friend he was also acting like the chief and trying to calm the situation. She decided against lying and telling him that everything was fine and instead let him continue with whatever he had to say because he obviously thought it was important enough to send for her about.

"Watch out for Hahn because she's manipulative and she knows how to put a spin on things so that you sound like the bad guy. I'm not saying she's a bad person but she is used to getting her way and when she doesn't she resorts to forcing her way. If she wants you out the way then she'll go out of her way to make you mess up and get angry with her. You must not let her get to you or she'll report you to Jennings before you've taken your next breath."

"Ah and Jennings's isn't my biggest fan after Wallace" Arizona continued his train of thought.

She wished that she could just tell Derek that Hahn seemed to have no interest in Callie but that clearly wasn't the case. The temporary chief had already started trying to wind her up and had obviously asked Callie for a drink very publically on purpose too.

"Super" she muttered sarcastically, "she's already at it."

Derek must have been able to see the look of worry in her eyes because he reached his hand out to her and gave it a squeeze.

"Are you okay?" he asked kindly, "what has she done?"

Arizona felt her eyes begin to tear up and she desperately tried to fight them back. She hated crying in front of people, even Callie, so she really didn't want to cry in front of a colleague.

"She's trying to steal my girlfriend" she stated weakly, "she's taking her for a drink tonight but Callie hasn't even told me that yet...they were overheard."

She could feel her eyes running now but they were silent tears which were far less embarrassing than strangled sobs and howling. He just looked at her sympathetically and squeezed her hand again.

"I don't think Callie is stupid enough to make the same mistake twice no matter how hard Hahn tries" Derek assured her, "plus I'm sure she loves you."

"She does!" Arizona found herself exclaiming defensively. She gave Derek an apologetic look for shouting at him when he was trying to help her but he didn't seem remotely phased by her raised voice.

"Good" he commented, "don't let Hahn make you forget it!"

Arizona was grateful for his support so she gave his hand a squeeze before releasing his hand and standing up.

"I better go" she explained, "I'm waiting on scan results for a child who may need surgery. Get well soon and take it easy!"

Derek smirked and picked up his magazine again. He was going to be a terrible patient, she could tell, he would want to be up and about within twenty four hours and they'd have to literally tie him to the bed.

"Remember; don't let her get to you. There is a good chance she'll end up here permanently if Jennings gets his way."

She had been nearly out the doorway before he spoke but she turned round to face him, the reality of what he was saying hitting her hard.

"Nobody blames you Derek and nobody wants you to be replaced...we'll fight for you. I'm not just saying that because of Erica Hahn."

He smiled in response and thanked her although it was clear by the look in his eyes that he wasn't entirely sure that he was blameless. It put things in perspective for her though because whilst she was only stressing over her girlfriends ex he was lying in bed feeling guilty for the deaths of several colleagues.

She let the door swing shut behind her and wiped her eyes quickly, trying to hide the evidence of her tears before she went back to PEDs. Meredith was still stood outside and gave her a sympathetic smile before heading into the room to see Derek herself.


	9. A bit of friendly advice

**Chapter 9**

Callie had desperately wanted to tell Mark about her conversation with Erica before they went into surgery. Unfortunately he had the two interns shadowing him so she had to keep shut. He would know something was bothering her though, especially after the surgery started because she knew she was being unusually quiet. Usually they would chat as they worked during surgeries together usually about idle gossip or trivial things but she wasn't really in the mood for small talk. He seemed content to play teacher to the two slightly terrified looking interns, neither of which Callie had ever had on her service before.

About two hours into surgery Mark finally put down his tools and declared himself finished. He'd done an excellent job as per usual and even though the wound had been a bit of a mess the stitching looked neat and tidy. Callie had finished resetting and plating the knee joint and was now nearly finished re-attaching the muscle around the distal end of the femur. She presumed that he would now leave but instead he sent the interns to scrub out and stayed behind. For a couple of very long minutes he seemed to just stand and watch her work.

"Mark you're creeping me out" Callie finally spoke up, without dragging her concentration away from the patients knee.

"I'm waiting for you to talk to me" he replied smoothly, "you've been all freaked out and silent since Hahn's entrance this morning and that was like four hours ago."

Callie briefly looked up from the knee she was working on to discover that Mark had a very serious look in his eyes. As much as a man-whore as he could be he was also a good friend at times when he felt the need to be. Obviously he felt this was one of those times that he needed be a good friend.

"Hahn's got a cheek swarming back in here like that but don't let her get to you. Just be polite, treat her like the boss and keep out her way. There can't be any trouble between you then."

It was very sound advice and Callie wished that he had given it to her before Hahn had cornered her in the ER. She had the distinct feeling that he would not approve of her meeting up with Erica tonight so she decided it was better to avoid the topic and she turned her focus back to the patient's knee in front of her.

"You do intend just to avoid her don't you?" Mark was wise to her evasive manner immediately. He pulled down his mask and tilted his head to the side and tried to see her expression. She was trying to hide by ducking her head so all he could see was the scrub cap and the mask.

"Callie? CALLIE?" she couldn't avoid his questioning voice forever.

"I'mgoingforadrinkwithhertonight..." Callie said the words so fast that they all blurred together into one long word rather than a sentence.

"What?" Callie wasn't sure if he had heard her and was about to erupt or if he was just frustrated because he didn't hear her and thought she was being silly.

"I am going for a drink with Erica Hahn tonight after work!" there, she'd said it. Mark looked at her like she had ten heads for a few seconds before his expression turned to one of exasperation.

"Finish up here and then get your ass into the on call room" Mark instructed, "you and I need a serious talking to Torres!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If she wasn't a surgeon and she was an accountant or something then Callie would have dragged out what she was doing for ages. Unfortunately she had to finish patching up the patients nasty patella and femur fracture as quick as possible or the tendons and muscles in the local area would get more and more damaged. Once she'd finished and scrubbed out she did consider doing a runner and avoiding Mark but he'd only come and find her anyway. So she made her way to the nearest on call room and found him sat on the bottom bunk looking thoughtful. That was a bad sign because thoughtful Mark meant he was about to be very serious and usually very right.

"Hey" she greeted, taking a seat next to him on the bed. As much as she wanted to run away from this chat she also knew she had to listen to what he had to say. He had supported her throughout the break up with George and especially through everything that happened with Erica; if anyone deserved a chance to voice his opinion it was him. The weird thing was that for at least a minute he didn't seem to be voicing his opinion until suddenly he sprung to his feet and turned to face her.

"Are you out of your mind?" his tone was full of accusation and Callie just spluttered in response.

"You should be keeping well away from Erica Hahn, she broke your heart remember? I saw the way she looked at you in the lobby and she seems to just think she can swan in after treating you like crap and just have you back again! Did you even think about Arizona when you accepted the offer of drinks with your ex? Have you even told Arizona you're going for drinks with Hahn? Jesus Torres, Robbins is worth fifty Hahn's so why the hell are you going there?"

Callie sat in a state of shock whilst Mark pretty much shouted all these questions at her. She had expected a friendly chat not an angry stand-off with him. Usually when somebody spoke to her like that then she'd shout right back at them but his words were hitting home to a degree. She hadn't really considered what it would sound like to Arizona and she still hadn't informed Arizona that it was happening. Technically she was also either breaking off meeting with Arizona tonight or meeting up with her later and after they had only just got back together than that could be misinterpreted.

"I'm going to tell Arizona, I was just waiting till after surgery so I could talk to her about it rather than just message her about it!" She still couldn't help being defensive, even if she was being more whiny than confrontational.

"Perhaps it may have been wise to speak to her before accepting Hahn's offer" Mark grumbled.

He was right of course, that would have been the most appropriate course of action to take. It was too late for that now though so she would have to just explain to Arizona that she'd had to make a snap decision at the time of the invitation.

"She just sprung it on me" Callie whined, "I was looking for help from you but you'd ran off with your interns!"

"How old are you Torres...twelve?" Mark chastised her. "Listen Callie I really think you should tell Hahn that you've changed your mind and that you're not available for dates, even friendly ones. Tell her about Robbins so she knows to back off!"

Mark said this part more softly and finally sat next to her again on the bed, rubbing her shoulder affectionately as he did so.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" Callie felt frustrated, "I'm just going to meet up for drinks, hear what she has to say for herself and tell her about what's happened since she's been gone. It's not a date!"

Mark pulled his hand away from her shoulder and ran it through his greying hair. He looked exasperated but he was clearly giving up on the conversation. An observation that was confirmed when he stood up and headed towards the door. He stopped just before the door and turned back towards her with another serious expression gracing his features.

"I think you're going to get hurt if you're not careful Cal" he spoke softly, "Hahn's got something about her that draws people in but she's just as likely to spit you back out when it's time to leave. If you are not careful then she could ruin your relationship and then disappear into the ether again."

Callie wanted to protest and tell him he had too little faith in her but before she could find the words he was out the door and gone. She wasn't going to let Arizona get away from her again, she loved her, but she needed to understand why Erica left and therefore had to speak to her about it. She wasn't stupid enough to let Hahn back into her life like that so why was Mark treating her like she was? She couldn't help but feel pretty damn mad at him and his apparent low opinion of her.

"Tsk screw you" she shouted, even though she knew he couldn't hear her.


	10. Waiting and Operating

**Chapter 10**

At 7.50am that morning Arizona had felt amazing. Perhaps amazing was a bit of an overstatement considering the events of the day before but she had her wonderful girlfriend back and everything seemed brighter than it had for weeks.

At 7.50pm the outlook seemed to be a bit bleaker and Arizona now felt dull and numb. It really wasn't the best feeling to have during a high risk and incredibly delicate surgical procedure.

A lot of the numbness had to do with the reappearance of Callie's ex and the fact that within the next ten minutes the pair would be heading off for drinks together. If you added to that the fact that she had now spent the entire day in a hospital she no longer felt safe in and the fact that her patient was ten times worse than she had imagined then it was a bad day. It was all meant to get better after yesterday, so why did it feel like she was getting worse?

Yes Arizona Robbins felt incredibly numb and she really didn't know how she'd got through the last couple of hours of surgery without messing up.

**Earlier in the day at 1.46pm**

The abdominal CT scan results Arizona had ordered arrived as she returned from her visit to Derek. The nurse who handed her the envelope was an experience PEDs nurse and she had showed some concern that Jon Williams was still complaining of severe abdominal pain even though he had been medicated. It had made Arizona feel more apprehensive about what condition the boy's gallbladder would be in.

Lexie, god bless her, was dealing with a stressing parent from down the hall who still hadn't got over the shock of the day before. Arizona had swiftly moved in and rescued her, telling the parent she needed Lexie for a consult. It was probably the first time Lexie had truly experienced one of the makers of the little people stressing about nothing. It was always incredibly frustrating because you couldn't actually help them but it wasn't fair or professional to get irritated with them.

"How's Derek?" Lexie had asked as Arizona led her away from the parent and towards the office where they could look at the results in private.

"Looking Mcmarvellous for someone who was shot only yesterday" Arizona quipped before realising Lexie may not appreciate the joke considering Alex had been shot too. The younger girls face fell briefly before brightening again and smiling.

"Alex looks fairly good too actually" she commented, "us surgeons must be made of strong stuff!"

Arizona chuckled and handed Lexie the envelope with the results in. If Lexie was only feigning a smile then letting her pin the scans up was bound to truly lift her mood. Once she had placed the last one on the board Arizona switched the backlight on and they both gasped at what was before them.

"Well you were right" Lexie found her voice first, "his gallbladder is just a bag of stones."

"I didn't foresee the state of the rest of him though," Arizona could barely find the words. She had never seen a child's gallbladder so messed up but that was the least of their problems. A gallbladder could be removed with ease and had very little effect on how the body functioned. Many animals had no gallbladder and people who had theirs removed lived normal lives. One of her tutors had once joked that the gallbladder was just there to cause doctor's problems and nothing else. No, the real problem for Jon Williams was the fact that he was showing clear signs of tissue death not only on his gallbladder but on his bile duct. He had clear signs of pancreatitis and peritonitis and due to the amount of gangrene around the bile duct Arizona was worried that the infection may have started to reach his liver.

"Okay I know this kid is in pain but how is he not in like...absolute agony?" Lexie's question was an excellent one and right now Arizona could only guess at the answer.

"I do not know" she admitted. "It will be interesting to see the result of the CBC but I'm going to have to go in right away and deal with the gallbladder and the bile duct. Then we'll access if anything else needs dealing with"

Their conversation was interrupted when the same nurse that handed Arizona the results burst breathlessly into the room.

"Dr Robbins, Dr Grey! Jon Williams has just been sick and now he is screaming and crying and he can't stop being sick and his abdomen hurts really bad and...Jesus are they his scan results?" the nurses eyes had drifted towards the boards. You didn't need to be one of the best PEDs surgeons around to see that the boy had issues and the nurse looked horrified by the scan results.

"Yes" Arizona responded simply.

"Shall I prep him for surgery?" the nurse was addressing Arizona but her stare was still fixed on the CAT scans on the wall.

"Yes" Arizona replied, "I need an OR now."

The nurse sped out the room and Arizona followed hot on her heals, looking for someone to assist with the surgery. She already had Lexie who had followed the nurse to the boy's room but she could do with someone more experienced too. There was no one in sight and it occurred to Arizona that she was short of residents on her floor because Reed was meant to be there today and she was dead. Panic started to build as she saw a flurry of nurses in activity around Jon Williams' room, he was still being sick; you could hear him retching from down the hall. There was a very young intern, one of this year's batches, standing by the nurses' station and flicking through a chart like nothing was happening even though they were in earshot of Jon's room.

"Can you find me a resident please" Arizona asked him. The young intern just looked at her blankly and stayed routed to the spot.

"I need a resident and fast!" Arizona screamed at a slightly dumbstruck intern, "Get me Yang if she's available but any damn resident will do right now even if you have to drag the older Grey away from the chief's bedside!"

The intern looked dumbstruck for another few seconds before they suddenly seemed to kick into life and they raced away down the hallway and towards a lift. Arizona felt guilty for terrifying the youngster but she needed to get her patient into surgery and fast.

By the time they had prepped the boy and got him down to OR 2 Christina was already waiting for them so obviously the young intern had moved at some speed. Arizona had paged Callie on the way down to surgery telling her she was going to be in surgery all afternoon. She was surprised to get an instant response telling her that Callie was out of surgery and she'd see her later. There was still no mention of Erica Hahn and alcohol but at least Callie hadn't completely forgotten about her.

Whilst the nurses hooked Jon up to the machines in the OR Arizona talked through the surgery to Christina and Lexie as they scrubbed in.

"We're going to deal with the gallbladder first" she began. "That should be the easiest part of the surgery after all. Then we need to try and save as much of the bile duct as possible. Hopefully there will be nothing else that needs doing during an emergency surgery. I would usually get someone like Hunt in here too but he's out of action so we'll just have to do."

"Oh he's still trying to work" Christina grumbled, "He's being all stoic and strong and all _I was an army surgeon so I'm superman._"

The three of them made their way into the OR and Arizona began to make the first cut. It was still a nervous moment even when you where an experienced surgeon because it's critical that you get it perfect or you can waste so much time. Once she was in she began to relax and Christina helped clamp the abdomen open whilst Lexie cleaned up the area so they could see what they were doing.

"So have you spoken to Hunt after yesterday?" Arizona asked Christina as they worked. "Meredith told me he was shot trying to protect you, her and Derek in the OR."

"No" Christina said sharply, "I don't want to talk about him."

Arizona could understand why Christina was hurt over Hunt still having feelings for Teddy but according to Meredith he had called Yang the 'women he loved' so she had expected Christina to have forgiven him slightly.

"You know what let's talk about him!" Christina put down her scalpel and declared. "Does he just expect me to suddenly forgive him because he goes all GI Joe on me? I mean, what would you do Robbins if Callie turned to you and told you she doesn't know how she feels about Hahn? What if she said she may still have feelings for her? Or you Lexie, what would you say if Karev said he wasn't sure how he felt about Izzie Stevens? Oh scrap that, at least you would know about the previous relationship! I didn't have a clue! He didn't think to tell me that he had been in love with Teddy or that he had recommended her to Derek for the job!"

Arizona and Lexie watched and listened to Christina rant in a state of shock. Firstly, because she never talked about how she was feeling but also because her comments about Callie and Alex had hit home with the pair. Her rant seemed to end as suddenly as it began and Christina picked up the scalpel again and muttered 'sorry' quietly.

Arizona lowered her eyes back down to the patient and began to get to work again with the aid of a calm again Christina. Lexie however seemed frozen to the spot and was no longer helping with the surgery.

"Lexie?" Arizona tried to get the younger Grey's attention.

"Alex asked for Lizzie whilst he was out of it and told her he loved her still" Lexie explained her silence, "Mark was there and it was upsetting and painful... and very embarrassing in hindsight."

Arizona and Christina both stopped again and looked up at the young intern. Even though Arizona could only see her eyes she could see the hurt Lexie was feeling echoed in them.

"I don't know why you are getting upset" Christina grumbled, "You're still in love with Mark aren't you?"

"Yang!" Arizona chastised. Now wasn't the time to bring up Mark Sloan and upset Lexie further. It wasn't that Arizona disagreed with Christina's assessment, it was just ill timed and Arizona was pretty sure Lexie was trying to move on from Mark and that she genuinely really did like Alex.

"I'm sorry Arizona" Lexie suddenly spoke up again, "I know you probably feel like crap too."

"Why?" Christina jumped in, "because stupid Hahn is back?"

Arizona cringed and Lexie cleared her throat. Christina put her scalpel down and looked at the two again, glaring from one to the other until they answered her.

"Dr Torres is going for a drink with Dr Hahn tonight but she hasn't told Arizona yet" Lexie explained.

"What!" Christina erupted. "Has she gone mad? God people suck! You know what screw all three of them because we are so much better and hotter than Teddy Altman, Izzie Stevens and Erica frickin' Hahn!"

Arizona tried to smile at Christina's words but she doubted the angry resident noticed as she never quite managed to make the smile reach her eyes and she had a mask in the way of her lips. Lexie actually snickered and it seemed to bring her back to life again because she started cleaning the area around the gallbladder again.

"Okay we all need to concentrate on the patient not our personal disasters" Arizona instructed as she gazed down at the heavily infected gallbladder they had now revealed to the open air.

"God this is going to be a long one" Christina stated, her attention now fully on the task at hand too.

**7.50pm**

It was hard not to think about the fact that Callie would be meeting up with Erica Hahn any minute now but Arizona knew it wasn't a priority right now. She was a surgeon and she had to focus on her patient and her patient needed her to put one hundred percent of her effort into their surgery. They had been going for five hours now and had finally removed the boy's gallbladder and Lexie was currently tidying up around his liver and bile duct. The next step involved the removal of infected tissue around the bile duct. There was infection around the liver and the pancreas was definitely in a poor state but Arizona wanted to get him onto some non surgical treatments for a couple of days so she could access what to do with the poor boy. She had a real concern that if he didn't respond to medication then he was going to be in need of a transplant or two. For now though she needed to focus on this surgery. It was going to take another hour, maybe two, before it would be over. That gave Arizona another couple of hours of distraction before she had to deal with the 'Erica Hahn issue' that seemed to have cropped up between herself and Callie.


	11. Drinks and conversation

**Chapter 11**

Ever since she had been paged by Arizona to tell her that she was in surgery and she'd be late, Callie had gone through a range of emotions. She felt sorry for Arizona that she was having such a hard day after the horrors of yesterday but she also felt relief that she didn't have to delay meeting up with Arizona so she could have this drink with Erica. Then she felt guilty for not telling Arizona she was going for the drink with her ex and perhaps guilty about the fact she was going to meet up with Erica at all. She also felt a little scared because she wasn't sure she was prepared to hear what Erica had to say to her. So all in all Callie had spent the whole afternoon worrying about what she was doing and what consequences her actions could have.

Speaking with Mark hadn't helped at all because he didn't seem to understand how much she needed to hear Erica's excuse for leaving. He just thought she was being silly but he didn't see how much she needed closure with Erica. She had wished for closure anyway but now Erica was back in Seattle and working as her boss then Callie needed it more than ever.

She did listen to Mark slightly though. She didn't want her drink with Erica to be misinterpreted so he purposefully didn't make much effort when she went home to get ready. She found a pair of casual jeans and a burgundy top to put on that she had worn several times to Joe's. The outfit was smart but casual, the kind of thing you would wear at a bar with friends, and couldn't possibly be misinterpreted by anyone as the kind of thing you would wear to a date. She didn't even bother putting any more make up on than she would usually wear for work.

She was meant to have finished her shift at six but hadn't actually got away till half past because she had to reset a man's arm after he had fallen of a ladder. He had only come in to the ER at ten to six so he had delayed her considerably. So by the time she'd changed out of her scrubs and walked across the street to her apartment it had been nearly seven which gave her an hour to get showered, changed, fed and then get back across to the hospital lobby. She had been showered and changed surprisingly quickly due to her lack of effort and had 'borrowed' a microwavable noodle meal of Christina's. This meant that she actually got the hospital lobby with a couple of minutes to spare, rather than being late like she had thought she would be.

Erica was already stood in the lobby waiting but she hadn't seen Callie's arrival because she was facing the other way with her back to the door. Callie took a few seconds to gain her composure as she stared at the back of Erica's thin knee length black jacket until she was ready to get the blonde's attention.

"Erica" her voice came out weak and childlike but it hadn't gone unheard because the cardio surgeon instantly swung round to face her. Callie instantly felt uneasy because of the broad smile Erica was flashing at her.

"Callie" Erica greeted her, "I look a little formal I'm afraid, I didn't have time to go get changed so I'm wearing what I wore to address the board with."

Her smart black coat was open at the front and underneath it she was wearing black trousers, a white blouse and a fitted black blazer. Callie hadn't really paid much attention to what she had been wearing that morning but she could have sworn she'd been in scrubs and a lab coat. It seemed odd that Erica had been announced as the temporary chief before a meeting with the board but Callie just brushed it off because the appointment wasn't made under normal circumstances.

"You look a little smart for Joe's" Callie admitted, ignoring the topic of Erica's appointment for now.

"Uck!" Erica made a dissatisfied noise, "can we avoid Joe's please? Too many prying eyes and ears!"

"Erm...yeah sure" Callie agreed. She could understand why Erica would want to avoid going where people knew them, especially because people would keep trying to talk to her because she was the new chief. Derek usually avoided Joe's because of the same reason; only occasionally venturing in to chat to Meredith if she was in there. On the other hand though Callie kind of wanted people to see her at Joe's so that they would see that the pair where just talking and that nothing more gossip worthy was happening.

"You sure that's okay?" Erica checked, "you seem a little hesitant."

Callie just nodded in response; she didn't want to engage in a conversation about them being the hospital's daily dose of gossip especially as Erica probably wasn't aware that everyone in the hospital seemed to know that she and Callie had dated.

"Great" Erica seemed very chipper, "should we walk to Parker's?"

xxxxxxxxx

Parker's was a slightly more upmarket bar about two blocks away which Callie very rarely frequented. She had been a few times with Erica before they had started dating; when they wanted to avoid a drunken Mark Sloan trying to come on to either of them.

Callie had been pretty silent on the way over and had just let Erica recount her day to her in more detail than was probably necessary. At least Erica was showing signs of being nervous too and it wasn't just her. Once they had got to the bar Callie had gone to find a seat whilst Erica went to the bar to get wine. She had let Erica go to the bar because she wanted to find a table in the middle of the room where they were surrounded by people rather than letting Erica pick a more secluded one. She had hoped that Erica would be a few minutes at the bar so she could text Arizona in peace but the blonde appeared with a bottle of red and two glasses within seconds of Callie sitting down.

"I better not drink too much" Erica began talking the instant she sat down. "I flew in overnight so I haven't had much sleep and I'm probably a little jet lagged."

"Yeah you got her really quickly considering the job only became open yesterday" Callie knew she was saying what the whole hospital was probably thinking but she tried to keep her tone light. Erica's eyes fell towards the wine glass she had just poured on the table and there was suddenly an awkward silence between the two of them.

"The job did only become open yesterday didn't it right?" Callie felt like she was going to be sick as she watched Erica's brow knit. The board had obviously already sounded Erica out; she could see it in the older woman's facial expression. Derek was already in line to lose his job before the shooting so what chance did he have of keeping it afterwards? Even more importantly could Callie cope if Erica was his full time replacement?

"Callie I can't talk to you about this..." Erica's voice trailed off and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

"I know" Callie admitted, "but Jesus Erica, why are you here? You walked away telling me you wanted to report the hospital to the authorities! Surely this is the last place you'd want to be?"

Callie hadn't planned to be so combative with Erica but she felt seriously irked about the whole situation. Why would Erica turn her back on her and the hospital only to consider coming back full time? She had found it strange enough when she thought it was a temporary visit but this was totally unbelievable!

"Callie" Erica was instantly combative back. "I left the hospital for a number of reasons, Izzie Steven's the organ stealing resident being one of them. Let's be honest though the main reason I left was because of you."

Callie tried to keep her expression unchanged but she failed miserably because hearing those words hurt. Not because they were a shock to her, she'd always known Erica had run away from her, but hearing it from the women herself stung considerably more than she had expected it too. She was determined she wouldn't cry though, even if she couldn't hide the fact it hurt her completely.

"Listen I'm sorry this isn't going the way I planned it too" Erica soothed the situation, "just let me talk alright and explain."

Callie nodded, not trusting herself to speak when she felt so chocked up. Anyway, this is why she'd agreed to meet up with Erica right? She's wanted an explanation for Erica's disappearance and here it was being offered to her.

"I was already so worried that I was setting myself up for a fall with you that after I heard you talking about looking after other surgeons backs I just had to get away from everything. I just couldn't believe you would side with Izzie Steven's of all people and not me. I guess I just realised I wasn't your priority...that I liked you far more than you liked me and that it was going to end badly if I tried to stick it out."

Callie listened to Erica without interrupting but she was hurt by her words. She had not been siding with Izzie Steven's but with the hospital that she worked in and had grown to love. It was the hospital where her friends worked too and if Erica had reported the hospital then people's jobs and reputations would have been at risk. More people would have been hurt by it then just Izzie Steven's. Could Erica really care so little about her colleagues at the hospital that she didn't see how it would have affected them too.

"You can glare at me all you like" Erica remarked, "What else was I mean to think after how you behaved?"

"I really really liked you Erica or I wouldn't have even contemplated dating you" Callie protested, causing the blonde to snort in response.

"What?" Callie asked, irritated by Erica's reaction.

"You had a strange way of showing it!" Erica was almost laughing and it made Callie even more annoyed. She had thought she was straight before meeting Erica and she had been brave and followed her feelings so why the hell was it not clear that she had really liked Erica? She'd made mistakes sure but she had also taken a big leap into the unknown to give them the opportunity to be together. Erica seemed just as agitated as she was and the blonde gestured with her hands frantically as she began to speak again.

"I mean, you slept with Sloan for god's sake when we were meant to be together...Twice! Twice in one ..."

"I know and I'm sorry" Callie interrupted, "I was just so confused..."

"Confused?" Erica cut in, "It's not an excuse! You just don't treat people like that! You could have come and talked to me about it and we'd have worked things out but noooo you had to go jumping in to bed with Mark Sloan to test out your sexuality!"

Yes, this was the part of the conversation Callie had been dreading because she knew that Erica had every right to be angry with her. Callie didn't have a leg to stand on really, she had behaved terribly and the reality of the matter was that she had chased Erica away by doing so.

"I expected to come back and find you still sleeping with Mark Sloan or dating some guy or even a few months into your second marriage...I just didn't expect to come back and find you dating another woman and I really didn't expect you to be dating a woman so damn openly. So that kind of hurts because now I know that I made a huge mistake...That if I'd give you more time then you'd have sorted your head out but I didn't and now I have to spend at least two weeks in a hospital with a woman I want to kill because I know she's sleeping with you and I'm not and I should have been!"

Callie didn't know what to say to Erica's little rant other than just sit there open jawed at the blonde. She had said more than Callie really wanted to hear; firstly because Erica really had expected Callie to just revert back to men and act like her little experiment was over. Secondly, Callie wished she hadn't mentioned anything about being jealous of Arizona because it was awkward and uncomfortable to hear about. It also probably meant that Erica was going to be really awkward with Arizona which wasn't fair on her. Callie was going to pull Erica up over the topic of Arizona and ask her to try and be fair with her girlfriend but Erica was already talking again.

"So I meant what I said, I did leave the hospital because of you" Erica continued, "but you're the reason I came back too."

"You can't say that to me!" Callie instantly protested, ignoring the tiny flutter she felt in her chest. It was unfair of Erica to be so forward with her but typically brash of her, rather like she had been the first time she'd asked Callie out on a date. Callie couldn't remember the wording but it was something about food, drink and trying to remove her of her clothing at the end of the night.

"I know, I'm sorry" Erica apologised, "perhaps I should subtly change the subject and ask you what you've been up to this past couple of months?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

Once they had left the uncomfortable discussion about their past behind they had actually sat for an hour and discussed what had happened in their careers since they had last seen the other. Callie had become an attending since then and had been sacked and rehired over the issue so she had plenty to say. Erica hadn't known about George's death either so Callie had filled her in on what had happened. Erica had less dramatic things to talk about but she had performed a couple of stellar surgeries that were worthy of discussion as well as a nomination for an award that she was still awaiting the results of.

Once it had hit ten pm Callie had declared her need to go home. She wanted to get back before Arizona did but she didn't give Erica that reason. Instead she stuck with the safe 'I'm tired after everything that has happened' excuse which Erica seemed to buy. Callie had expected Erica to get a cab to wherever she was staying but instead she had insisted on walking Callie the ten minute hike back to her apartment. The first five minutes was undertaken in silence but then Erica suddenly spoke up.

"I like the necklace you're wearing."

Callie followed Erica's eyes down to the chain around her neck and fingered the pendant with her hand nervously. This was an awkward topic for them to get onto considering how Erica had admitted she was jealous of Arizona and Callie's relationship in the bar before.

"Arizona bought it for me" Callie explained quietly, "Oh Arizona is..."

"Dr Robbins, your girlfriend the PED surgeon...Yes I know" Erica replied irritably as she looked away from Callie.

Callie cringed at the tone of Erica's voice but the blonde didn't see because she was already power walking again leaving Callie trailing her slightly. They were about 500 yards from the apartment when Callie decided the silence was too awkward and began to converse again.

"You really didn't have to walk me back you know" she ventured, "you should have got a taxi back to whatever hotel they have put you up in."

"I'm not in a hotel" Erica chuckled, "I'm living in the basement of the hospital for the time being so I haven't gone out of my way at all."

Callie tripped over her own feet in shock but managed to stay upright with a little help from Erica's arm which shot out to steady her. They continued walking but Erica had slowed down again now so they could walk together.

"You're being serious?" Callie couldn't quite picture Erica Hahn, goddess of Cardio, slumming it in the basement like she had.

"It seemed like an interesting idea at the time" Erica admitted, "now the fact I'm living in your old home in an effort to get close to you seems like time wasted because you've moved on."

They were virtually at the apartment's doorstep now and Callie came crashing to a halt at Erica's words. She really had come to Seattle to win Callie back and it was hard not to feel a little sorry for her even though she'd hate the idea of Callie pitying her.

"Erica ..." Callie couldn't think what to say to her so she trailed off. The blonde looked at her expectantly but Callie found she couldn't look Erica in the eye because of the intense gaze the older woman was subjecting her to.

"This is awkward" Erica stated after a few moments of tense silence. Callie finally looked up from her feet to find Erica smiling at her a little too warmly. It was an affectionate smile, one that held a lot of fondness and feeling.

"Don't look at me like that" Callie grimaced. Her words sounded pathetic even to her own ears but they seemed to just make Erica smile more.

"Like what?" Erica played dumb.

"Like you care!" Callie sounded like a petulant child but she beyond caring right now.

"I do care!" Erica's answer was quick fired back at her, "I can't hide that."

Callie rolled her eyes in frustration, wishing that Erica would just make the situation easier by just walking away. Then it occurred to Callie that she could walk away and then Erica would see that Callie wasn't interested.

"I've got to go...No doubt I'll see you in work tomorrow" Callie turned towards the steps of her apartment building.

"Callie" Erica's frustrated voice called out from behind her so she swung round to see what the blonde wanted. As she turned she felt Erica's hands grasp hers and Erica's lips graze across her cheek. Callie was a little stunned by the sudden assault but before she got time to protest Erica had released her and was stepping back and out of her personal space.

"I guess I better get back to the hospital" Erica began to edge away, "I have a mountain of paperwork to do and two resident's to try and replace so erm...see you around."

Callie watched as the temporary chief turned away and swiftly made her way across the road towards the hospital parking lot without looking back at her. She hoped that Erica would accept the fact she had a girlfriend and not try it on with her but she had the distinct feeling Erica was not one to give up that easily especially as the woman had just changed the dynamic between their parting by not letting Callie be the one to leave. Erica had made sure that she was in charge and had basically just asserted herself over Callie. Oh yes It was likely to be a rough couple of weeks with her around the hospital but at least now Callie had got over the initial shock of her being there. Now she just had to avoid Erica coming on to her for at least thirteen whole days.


	12. Not just a manwhore

**Chapter 12**

Arizona had been in surgery for seven and a half hours by the time she had finally finished with the patient. There had been a couple of complications whilst removing the gangrenous tissue but in the end the surgery had been successful. Now however she was utterly shattered and as she put down her scalpel for the last time during this surgery she glanced round to see a very tired resident, intern and two nurses looking back at her.

"You two go" she instructed Christina and Lexie, "I'll finish up."

"Are you sure?" Lexie seemed concerned but Arizona could see how tired the young girl was. She probably hadn't had much sleep worrying about Alex and would obviously want to go see him before she went home.

"Yeah are you sure?" Christina spoke up, "You must be exhausted too because you could barely walk this morning and I'm guessing that was due to...lack of sleep!"

"I'm sure" Arizona replied softly, "good job by the way guys!"

It was hard to muster her usual good cheer but she managed to pass it off as reasonably perky. It was perky enough for the other two to say goodbye and leave the OR to scrub out. It took another few minutes for Arizona to check everything was okay with the patient before the nurses took him up to the ward for post op care. Arizona scrubbed out and went to find his mother to tell her that her son was out of surgery.

Mrs Williams was sat in the family's waiting room looking extremely pensive and she was on her feet the second Arizona entered the room. In the time it had taken Arizona to take two steps into the room the worried mother had bounded at least six paces across the room to meet her.

"Is he okay?" Arizona always felt so sorry for the parents and the hell they were going through. It was one of the things that scared her about having a family of her own. She couldn't imagine herself reacting very well in this kind of situation but hopefully they would have healthy kids that avoided serious injury. That may be hopeful thinking if they really were going to have a large brood of them although Arizona had presumed Callie was joking when she envisioned ten kids. Arizona thought two was a good number but she could probably stretch to four if Callie was feeling productive. She'd given it a lot of thought when they had been apart even if Callie didn't realise that she had.

"He's fine" Arizona's mind snapped back to the woman in front of her, "the surgery took longer than expected because his gallbladder fought back a bit but it's removed now."

"His liver?" Mrs William's still didn't seem assured that everything was okay. The anxious brunette tipped from toe to toe, shifting her weight nervously as she listened to Arizona to speak.

"I've managed to repair the bile duct but I'm a little concerned about a few other things" Arizona kept her voice soothing. "I'm going to put him on an intravenous drip, antibiotics and some painkillers. I'm also going to need to run a lot of tests starting from tomorrow onwards. I can't lie to you Mrs Williams and say everything is rosy but I'll take good care of him and hopefully we can deal with these issues without any more surgery."

Mrs Williams seemed happier just to know that the surgery went okay and Arizona took her up to the ward to see him quickly even though he would be out cold for a while. She left her sitting with her son for ten minutes whilst she went and briefed the senior resident who was working the floor that night about the boy's surgery. She made sure that the resident knew that she was to be called if there were any complications. If there is one thing that surgeons hate then it's other surgeons fiddling with their patients. Once she'd finished speaking to her colleague she instructed Mrs Williams to go get a few hours sleep so she was bright and breezy for when Jon woke up in about twelve hours. It was always hard for parents to walk away from their children and rest but it would do her or her son no good if she collapsed of exhaustion and ended up admitted to another wing of the hospital.

Then Arizona headed towards the locker room, walking slower than usual, not because she was sore still but because she was delaying finishing at the hospital. Now she had no excuse to be there she had no idea where to go next. Was she meant to go to Calliope's? Callie had said in her page that she'd see her later but they hadn't made arrangements. Did she just proceed like she would have before the break up and go to Callie's or should she go home to her own apartment? If she went to Callie's would she be in for a nasty surprise if Callie wasn't there or worse...if Callie was there with Erica? She didn't think Callie would cheat on her but she didn't want to walk in on Callie and Erica talking in private or talking at all for that matter. Perhaps she should take a brick just in case, like she had threatened to do with Karev that time.

She was walking past the on call room down the hall from the locker room when Mark Sloan walked out looking distinctly like he'd only just woken up. He looked kind of surprised to see her but instantly grasped her hand and stopped her from walking past him.

"Robbins" he greeted, "have you only just got out of surgery?"

"About half an hour ago" she replied, "I'm just on my way..."

She trailed off, remembering that she wasn't sure where exactly she was going now. He didn't release her hand but he rubbed his stubble with his free hand obviously stressed by something or someone.

"Has Callie spoken to you?" Mark asked, "Is everything okay between you too?"

"Do you mean has Callie told me she's gone for a drink with Erica Hahn?" she answered his question with a question. He nodded, looking slightly relieved for some reason Arizona couldn't fathom.

"No" she couldn't hide the irritation from her voice, "but the whole hospital is talking about it so of course I know!"

The look of relief turned to one of horror and Mark reached out for her as tears suddenly spilled down over her cheeks. Letting go of her hand he clasped her cheeks and tried to brush away the tears.

"Robbins she said she was going to tell you but then I guess you got stuck in surgery so she decided she didn't want to just page you about it" he tried to make excuses for her but it was half hearted. He clearly thought that Callie was a little out of order too. Footsteps sounded from around the corridor so Mark pulled her into the on call room, obviously wanting to prevent her being embarrassed by anyone seeing her crying. The footsteps quickly disappeared and he began talking again.

"Listen Arizona I know she should have told you but I wouldn't worry too much" he comforted her. "I know she loves you, all she did was stare at you when you were split up...It was a bit creepy really."

"I know she loves me" Arizona agreed, her voice stuttering due to her tears. "It's just not a great time for Hahn to reappear on the scene. We've had these problems and I've messed up and I just don't want Erica Hahn to sweep in and suddenly make me look inferior. I'm terrified of having kids but I do want them even though I have issues to work through...I bet Erica Hahn is desperate for babies though and I'll look like some sort of freak!"

Mark moved his hands from his sides again and wrapped them around her giving her a tight hug. She wasn't used to seeing this side of Mark but she knew it existed because it was one of the reasons he and Callie were such good friends. This was the Mark that Callie adored, the Mark that Callie looked to when she was hurting or in need of advice.

"I think you're missing the point Arizona" he said softly into her ear, "Callie doesn't just want kids...she wants kids with you."

He pulled back out of the hug and brushed her hair, which was beginning to stick against her wet cheeks, out of her face using his fingers. Once it was tucked back behind her ears he seemed to inspect her face briefly before resting his hands on her shoulders.

"You don't know whether to go back to Callie's apartment or not do you?" he asked, watching her intently.

"No" she admitted, causing more tears to flow down over her cheeks. He instantly began wiping them away again and his eyes looked so glossy that Arizona could swear he was close to tears too.

"You look totally exhausted Arizona" he stated, "perhaps you should sleep here tonight because you're on shift quite early aren't you tomorrow?"

"Six" Arizona admitted, "Are you working tonight?"

"Yeah I'm the Senior Attending tonight" he replied, "so if Callie calls I'll tell her you finished late and I sent you to the on call room to sleep because you were like the living dead!"

It could be seen as a bit of a cowardly way of dealing with the situation but it was the easy option and Arizona really was too tired to deal with Callie and a conversation about Erica Hahn tonight. She'd only get irritable and possessive if she was tired and it would go badly so Mark was probably right, this was the best idea.

"I don't know if I'll sleep" she admitted, worried that she would just end up lying there in the dark all night.

"You should see yourself in a mirror" Mark grinned, "I'm pretty sure you'll sleep!"

She slapped his arm lightly but she saw the funny side of what he was saying too. She felt like a wreck so it was no surprise if she actually looked like one too. His humour brought a smile to her face even if she was still crying slightly.

"Get into bed" Mark instructed, kicking of his shoes at the same time as she did. She eyed him up suspiciously, wondering what he was up too. When he just smiled back she decided to trust him and climbed into the lower bunk so that she was facing the wall. He crawled in after her and put his arm around her, grasping one of her hands in his and resting his for head against the back of her head.

"I'll stay with you until you go to sleep" he promised, giving her hand a slight squeeze.

"You don't have too," she felt like she had to say it even though she was grateful for his actions.

"Yeah I do" he corrected her, "Torres would kill me if I didn't make sure you were okay!"

She chuckled and nestled down into the bed so she was completely comfortable, making a mental note to herself to buy Mark a bottle of Jack Daniels or something as a thank you. They lay in silence for a few minutes and her tears started to subside as she calmed down.

"If it makes you feel any better; I think you're at least ten times hotter than Hahn so Callie would be mad to ruin what she's got with you" Mark suddenly said softly. Arizona gave his hand a squeeze in response, grateful that he was there for her right now because no one else would be this cuddly.

"That's what Christina said earlier" Arizona giggled, "although she really doesn't like Hahn so she may be biased!"

"Yeah but she's also scalpel hungry" Mark pointed out, "she was gutted when Hahn left so if she's not happy that her cardio god is back then it's more to do with supporting you than disliking Hahn."

Arizona felt lifted by the fact that everyone seemed to approve of her more than Erica Hahn. Perhaps she was being stupid and worrying over nothing. She had always thought she was a pretty amazing girlfriend before so why should she doubt herself now over a woman who everyone else thought she was superior to? It was something she could deal with tomorrow, right now she needed sleep and thanks to Mark and the caring side of his multiple personalities she was on course to get some.


	13. Beware of angry flat mates!

**Chapter 13**

Callie had been sat on the sofa waiting for Arizona for over half an hour by the time she heard a key turn in the door. Arizona no longer had a key, a problem Callie needed to rectify, but she presumed that Arizona and Christina would come back to the flat together as they had just been in surgery together all afternoon and evening. So when the door opened and only Christina Yang her flatmate walked in Callie suddenly felt very nervous.

"Where is Arizona? I thought she'd be with you!" Callie hadn't even noticed but she'd somehow sprung to her feet when the door had opened.

"She shouldn't be far behind 'cos she was just finishing of in the OR when I left" Christina replied irritably.

The resident let the apartment door slam behind her and flung her bag on the floor. It wasn't unusual for Christina to be grumpy, in fact it was unusual for her not to be, but tonight she seemed even more grumpy than usual.

"Is everything okay?" Callie decided to risk asking even if Christina bit her head off...which she promptly did.

"You...You're wrong! You are the Owen Hunt of your relationship and I think Owen Hunt sucks quite a bit right now!" Christina growled.

Callie just stared at Christina blankly, wondering what the hell her flatmate was going on about and why she was so angry.

"You're talking in riddles Christina" Callie admitted, "I don't understand what you're getting at!"

Christina stormed across the room and came to a stop directly in front of Callie. Callie mused that it was quite intimidating having an angry Yang towering over you whilst you sat waiting to be admonished like a child.

"Where is Hahn?" Christina asked, glancing around the apartment suspiciously.

"Back at the hospital...The hospital!" Callie stuttered, "How did you know that...?"

"Arizona told me" Christina cut in, "but you didn't have the decency to tell her oh no! No you snuck of and let her find out through other people!"

Callie felt physically sick at what Christina was saying to her. She hadn't told Arizona because she had wanted to tell her to her face and not over the stupid pager. She hadn't meant for it to seem like she was hiding anything. She should have known though that someone would have overheard her conversation with Erica in the ER and that it would spread round the hospital like a wild fire.

"Oh god it wasn't like that!" Callie defended herself, "I just haven't seen her because we've both been in surgery!"

Christina's glare softened and she plonked herself in the sofa next to Callie; laying her head back and closing her eyes. Now that she didn't look so severe Callie could see how tired Christina looked but then she had been in back to back surgeries after spending the day before with a gun waved at her whilst she tried to save her best friends 'post it note' husbands life.

"Why did you go Cal?" Christina asked without opening her eyes. "You've got your roller skate girl back so why go on a date with Hahn. I sat here and watched you cry into your cereal for a week over Robbins so tell me why you'd risk throwing her away over heartbreaker Hahn when you've only just got her back?"

"I didn't go on a date with Erica!" Callie protested. "I went for a drink at Patricks for an hour or two to clear the air between us! Otherwise it would have been impossible for us to work in the same hospital together!"

Christina opened her eyes and glanced over at Callie, pursing her lips in thought. Callie wasn't sure what was going on in Christina's head and she was now really worried about what was going on in Arizona's. Did her girlfriend genuinely think she'd snuck of on a date whilst she'd been working or would Arizona know her well enough to trust her? Surely Arizona knew she loved her now? Callie was so sure that she'd finally got that through to her last night but had she already gone and blown it today?

"Did it clear the air?" Christina's voice cut through the silence.

"Kind of" Callie replied, "It's going to be a little less awkward now but it still won't be like having Sheppard or Webber in charge."

"She's going to be a pain in the ass to a few of us" Christina agreed. "I've already had a run in with her, she was a bitch to Robbins, she was totally belittling towards Altman and she is unlikely to be pleasant to Sloan or Webber. She's just going to be a bitch full stop. "

Callie chuckled at Christina's fairly accurate assessment of the situation. She was right in thinking that Erica would be a bitch to Mark because she was damn sure Erica would resent him for sleeping with her during their relationship. She was also going to take great pleasure in bossing Webber around especially after being so angry with him for not sacking Izzie Steven's. She wasn't really sure who would escape the wrath of Erica. Perhaps Hunt and Avery would because they had very little to do with anything involving Erica.

"Have you spoken to Owen today?" Callie suddenly remembered Christina's earlier rand comparing him and Callie to the other.

"No" Christina snapped at her.

"Don't you think you should?" Callie ignored her flatmates tone and continued anyway. "I think you should because he came back into the hospital to find you even though he knew there was a gun man on the loose. That has to mean something!"

"Maybe tomorrow" Christina muttered, "if he wants me he can frickin' wait for me!"

Callie wasn't sure that was really the best way to deal with the situation but she was in no position to preach. It was Christina's way after all and if he wanted Christina then Own Hunt would just have to cope with her strange and angsty methods!

"Anyway I'm going to bed" Christina stood up. "Good luck trying to tame the exhausted and angry PEDs surgeon. Just remember to take everything she throws at you because you deserve it!"

"Gee thanks for your support!" Callie called after Christina as her flatmate closed her bedroom door behind her.

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Callie had been sat waiting on the sofa for another hour after Christina had went to bed and it was starting to dawn on her that Arizona wasn't coming. She scrambled to her coat and found her mobile phone, deciding to try and ring Arizona so she could find out where she was. She was disappointed to find her girlfriends phone turned off which either meant that Arizona was ignoring her or that she was still in the hospital. Callie decided to try her luck and rang the hospital's ER knowing that Mark was there tonight. He was likely to know if Arizona was still there or not and if she wasn't at least she knew he wouldn't gossip about her. The phone rang out for a few seconds before she heard Mark's dulcet tones.

"Hello this is Seattle Grace's ER how can I help you?" he asked.

"Mark its Callie" she spoke quickly, "Is Arizona there?"

"She was exhausted after surgery so I sent her to sleep in on call room one Callie" Mark replied.

So she was still in the hospital. Callie wasn't sure that he was telling her the whole story but at least now she knew where her girlfriend was and she could sort out any misunderstanding about Erica tonight.

"I'm on my way over" she informed him. She heard him begin to speak again but she cut the call off and put her phone back in her coat pocket. She hadn't bothered taking her shoes off or getting changed after going out for a drink so she was ready to leave the apartment. She quickly wrote Christina a note telling her she was at the hospital just in case her flatmate woke up and actually worried about her being missing. Then as quietly as she could, it was nearly midnight after all, she crept out the apartment and shut the door behind her. Once she was out the apartment she sped up and practically jogged across the street and the parking lot and round to the ER. Mark was stood by the reception desk flicking through some files but the instant he saw her he left the paperwork and walked towards her.

"Callie" he greeted her, placing his hands on the front of her shoulders to stop her. "Listen before you get angry let me apologise for telling Arizona to sleep in the on call room. She was really upset and confused and I thought it was best that she got some rest...she really is shattered."

"You actually told her to sleep there?" Callie nearly chocked in shock. Why would Mark do that to her? He should have told Arizona to go to her, he was meant to be her friend so why didn't he send Arizona to her apartment?

"She was crying Callie" he defended his actions. "She's worried that Erica Hahn is going to try and pry you away from her and she'd worried that she'll offer you things that Arizona has been hesitant over. You've really scared her!"

If Callie hadn't already felt awful then she certainly would have started now. Arizona must have been really upset if she'd allowed herself to break down in front of Mark. She didn't really break down in front of anyone, even Callie, but she certainly wouldn't normally show any weakness to Mark. As great as Mark could be sometimes he could also be a complete dick and Arizona was well aware of that.

"What are you going to do about it?" Mark asked, giving her shoulders a slight shake to regain her attention.

"I'm going to crawl into bed with her so I'm there when she wakes up."

Callie knew that the problem wouldn't just go away if she slept in the on call room with Arizona but it was symbolic. She would be showing Arizona that she was the person Callie wanted to wake up with everyday even if she had to go out of her way to do so. If Arizona wanted to talk about things in the morning then they would talk; Callie wasn't going to let her go again without a fight.

"A fine plan...so go!" Mark pushed her gently in the right direction. "Go sleep and cuddle... and whatever... just sort things out!"

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Callie hadn't needed to be told again and she scurried off towards on call room one, ignoring the curious looks from a couple of residents who had obviously overheard what Mark had just instructed her to do. It was only a couple of minutes away from the ER so it didn't take Callie very long to get there and she was glad she didn't see anyone she knew on route. She didn't fancy explaining to Hunt or someone why she was randomly wandering around the hospital in her own clothes at this time of night.

When she reached the on call room she gently opened the door, not wanting to wake Arizona, and shut it softly behind her. She eased her way towards the bed, careful not to stumble over in the dark and removed her shoes and jacket. It wouldn't be particularly comfortable sleeping in her jeans but she didn't want to strip down to her underwear in case somebody walked in. Besides, if Arizona was annoyed then she may not appreciate Callie stripping down right now.

Callie could only see the blondes outline but she could tell she was lying on her side facing the wall. It was the most ideal position for her to be in because it meant that Callie could just crawl under the covers behind her and spoon against the back of her. Doing so without waking Arizona up was a bit of a challenge though and as Callie wrapped her arm around her girlfriend she felt her stir. She shifted back into Callie slightly but didn't actually wake up completely. Callie nuzzled into the blondes hair, even though she mainly smelt of the hospital and disinfectant underneath that she still smelt of something that was distinctly Arizona. It was a mix of cherry blossom and dove soap, it was a smell that Callie had missed whilst they had been apart and she'd been alone in her bed. The pillows had kept the scent for a couple of days but then it had faded, leaving Callie feeling completely lost and miserable.

She could feel herself relaxing as her breathing aligned with the gorgeous woman she was pressed against. It wouldn't be long till she was asleep but somehow she still didn't feel close enough to Arizona even though the whole of her front was pretty much pressed against the back of her girlfriend. Then it dawned on her that she wasn't holding Arizona's free hand like she usually would if they were cuddled in bed. She fumbled round as gently as she could for the blondes hand and clasped it delicately in hers. Now the contact felt complete between them and Callie let her eyes close so she could drift off to sleep.


	14. Strong Arms

**Chapter 14**

Arizona woke up gradually but even though she was groggy she instantly realised that strong arms were still holding her like they had been when she'd gone to sleep. For the first few seconds she presumed Mark had fell asleep too and wondered how the hell he hadn't been called down to the ER that night. It must have been a really slow night if the Senior Attendant wasn't required. Then it dawned on her that the person behind her felt too familiar to be Mark and far too female. She inhaled deeply, recognising the scent as that of Callie and not of Mark Sloan's expensive aftershave. Callie always smelled of vanilla and cinnamon; something that had always reminded her of Christmas.

She wasn't sure at what part of the night that Callie had joined her and she certainly didn't remember it; but she wasn't complaining. If Callie was in bed with her then she wasn't in bed with Erica Hahn and that was comforting. Not that she'd thought that Callie would actually cheat on her but she couldn't help feeling scared.

She edged back against Callie so that her back was firmly pressed against the front of the brunette's body. She was a little surprised when her actions drew a response from what she had presumed to be her sleeping girlfriend.

"Hey" Callie whispered into her ear before burying her face in Arizona's neck and dropping soft kisses against the pulse point there.

"Hey" Arizona replied softly before moaning at the administrations of her girlfriend's lips.

Callie kissed her neck another couple of times before pulling back and running her fingers through Arizona's hair. The feeling of Callie's fingertips scraping against her scalp was familiar and relaxing and she couldn't help but completely relax against her.

"Were you confused when you woke up in bed with someone?" Callie asked softly. Her fingers continued to rake her fingertips through Arizona's hair which distracted the blonde from answering for a couple of minutes until prompted again.

"Arizona?"

"Yeah...actually I thought you were Mark Sloan for a minute" Arizona admitted, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth. She had not intended to tell Callie about her break down on Sloan the night before.

"Huh?" Callie suddenly sat up and leant over her. Arizona found herself looking into the eyes of her confused girlfriend and she couldn't help but giggle. Surely Callie couldn't possibly think she'd actually have sex with Mark Sloan?

"I fell asleep with Mark Sloan in the same position you're in now" Arizona explained. "It's definitely nicer to wake up with you though even if he was a gem last night."

"He is when he wants to be" Callie agreed. There was a sad sound to the brunette's voice and she lay back on the bed so that Arizona could no longer see her. Arizona turned to face her; a hard task considering she was wedged between the wall and Callie on a very small single bed. After several seconds of shuffling she had rolled onto her other side and was leaning over the brunette. Callie's eyes were glossy and she was obviously fighting back tears. Arizona guessed that Mark had told her girlfriend about their conversation and began to feel guilty, even if Callie had caused her to hurt in the first place. She knew that her words from when they were in lockdown would be ringing in her girlfriends ears as it did seem like she didn't trust her. Yes Arizona definitely felt guilty.

"Arizona I love you" Callie's voice brought the blonde out of her reverie. Arizona eyes flickered to Callie's and she could see love and desperation in them.

"I know" she comforted her. "You just scare me sometimes because I feel like you would have the ability to emotionally crush me if you wanted to. I love you so much Calliope and..."

She didn't get the chance to complete her sentence because suddenly Callie's mouth had ascended up to hers and was hungrily kissing her. All rational thought seemed to leave Arizona's head due to the intensity of the kiss because even though they were in an unlocked on call room she had no desire to stop. Instead she pressed Callie back down against the bed and kissed her back, enjoying the way their tongues battled it out first in her mouth and then in Callie's. Somehow the brunette managed to manoeuvre her so that she was straddling Callie's hips...or perhaps she had moved there of her own accord. Either way Arizona found herself grinding her hips into Callie's whilst her hands roamed under the brunette's top. All the while they never broke their kiss which seemed to intensify more and more with every passing second.

"Erm..." suddenly there was a nervous cough from the doorway which caused Arizona to rip her lips away from Callie's and sit up in shock. The two turned their heads to see who had interrupted them; Arizona still straddling her girlfriend. She was relieved to see it was just Mark because even though he'd have loved the show at least he wouldn't gossip about it.

"I snuck in quietly because I didn't want to wake Callie but apparently you're already awake!" Mark commented. "I'm really sorry to have to do this but I have a child with inner ear pain in the ER who needs your attention Dr Robbins. It past six so you're technically the on call PED's attending."

Arizona crawled off Callie and out of the bed, pecking her on the lips as she brushed past her. She could see Callie checking the time on her wrist watch as she put her shoes on. The brunette groaned and turned over to face the wall again.

"Somebody page me at quarter to eight so I get up for my shift" she instructed. Mark snickered slightly and Arizona leant over the bed and kissed her cheek before following the plastics surgeon out the room and into the corridor where she came face to face with someone she really didn't need to see right now.

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"Robbins, Maaaaark" Erica Hahn drawled, "not a pair of doctors I'd expect to see creeping out of the on call room together...Shouldn't you be in the ER Mark?"

Arizona felt every muscle in her body tense and her hairs bristle at the words and the way that Erica Hahn spoke to them. She wasn't exactly Erica Hahn's greatest fan anyway so being spoken too like a naughty child and a cheat was always bound to royally piss her off.

"I've just come to collect Dr Robbins for a consult," Mark didn't seem remotely flustered by Erica Hahn's mocking tone. That was a good thing considering Arizona wanted to kill her because if Mark lost his temper too then who was going to stop her wringing Hahn's neck?

"Is she incapable of making her way to the ER on her own?" Erica's tone had lost none of its nasty edge.

Arizona was tempted to tell Hahn that she was considering putting her in the ER and would need no assistance in doing so. Common sense prevailed though and she kept her mouth shut, leaving Mark to deal with the irritating blonde.

"She's perfectly capable" Mark replied politely, "I just didn't want to wake her sleeping girlfriend by paging her."

"I thought Dr Robbins was dating..." Erica's voice trailed off into silence.

"Callie...yes she is" Mark finished the sentence of for her. It was obvious Hahn was confused about what was going on because the confidence and authority had left her face and her emotions seemed pretty unmasked.

"But...Dr Torres is in her apartment...I saw her..." Erica stumbled over her words.

Arizona had just started to relax a bit because Mark was definitely winning the battle with Hahn but these words made her bristle again. If it was possible then she felt even angrier than before.

"She may have been earlier but she's definitely in the on call room now" Mark replied smugly. It was obvious that he was taking quite a bit of pleasure out of seeing Hahn on the back foot. Arizona couldn't control her face muscles as realisation hit Hahn. The temporary chief looked a little crushed and jealous and it brought a smile to Arizona's face which she just couldn't control. She usually didn't take any pleasure in other people's misery but Hahn seemed to be an exception.

"Right well I want to see you in my office after you've finished shift Sloan" Erica's tone was snappy but she was clearly steering away from the awkward conversation. They all knew they were going to get dragged in for a 'routine meeting' and Arizona couldn't wait to see how hers would go with Callie's bitter ex.

"Robbins I'll see you now" Hahn added. Obviously she was about to find out right now; suddenly she felt like she really could wait after all.

"I have a boy with inner ear pain that Dr Robbins is needed for" Mark pointed out. Erica had begun to turn away but swung back around to glare at him.

"Isn't there a PED's resident you could bother instead?" she replied irritably.

Mark bristled a bit at her tone of voice and stepped closer to her so he was almost standing of against her.

"I would but the main PEDs resident is lying in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound and the other resident is currently busy in the PEDs apartment" he practically growled at her.

As much as Arizona was enjoying Mark standing up to Hahn she remembered what Derek had said about Hahn causing trouble to get her own way. Erica Hahn hated Mark Sloan and would be delighted to get him into trouble with the board so Arizona had to calm the situation down.

"Actually Mark there is someone you can page" she spoke up, placing her hand on Mark's chest and gently pulling him away from the temporary chief of surgery. "I know she's not a PEDs resident but Dr Lexie Grey had been working with me a lot recently and she'll be able to hold the fort for me."

Mark gave Arizona a knowing look and backed away, giving Hahn her space. He made no verbal comment and just turned and walked away with his pager in hand. This left Arizona stood in a deserted corridor with Hahn which felt pretty damn uncomfortable. Hahn wasn't stood still for long and began to walk away towards the direction of her office. Arizona followed but allowed herself to lag slightly behind so she didn't have to speak to the woman she really wanted to hit with a scalpel right now.

Once in Sheppard's office (Arizona refused to think of it as Hahn's) Hahn sat herself down behind the desk and stared at Arizona. As she hadn't been offered a seat Arizona stood rigidly behind the empty chair waiting for Hahn to speak. She was well aware that people could see into the office from the walk way and several staff members were glancing her way as they walked past. One of which included Teddy who pulled a funny face behind Hahn's back and gestured to knife her. Arizona had to try very hard not to laugh but her amused facial expression seemed to wake Hahn out of her reverie.

"Lexie Grey?" Hahn finally snorted, seemingly unimpressed with Arizona's choice of back up. Not that Arizona really expected her to be impressed by anyone other than herself...and Callie of course.

"She's going to be an excellent surgeon" Arizona felt the need to defend something and as she couldn't really start yelling about her and Callie then Lexie seemed like the next best thing. "She could honestly go into any of the specialities although I think she's destined for plastics. Oh and she's a great teacher and very patient with the interns."

Hahn chuckled loudly and Arizona couldn't see what was so funny. She knew Lexie had been seen as a bit of a joke at first because she'd been very nervous but ever since she'd been at the hospital Lexie had been a hardworking and quickly progressing young surgeon. If Hahn was even going to be permanent chief of surgery at any hospital then she needed to learn to respect people.

"Okay so I find you creeping out of on call rooms with Sloan and fighting Lexie Grey's corner" Erica remarked, "Is there anyone in this hospital you're not sleeping with?"

Arizona couldn't believe what Hahn had just asked her. She wasn't sleeping with anyone bar Callie and it was just a totally unprofessional thing to say. She'd been told to not let Hahn get to her though and she was damn well going to stick to that plan. Giving up on the idea of Hahn being polite she plonked herself into the empty chair in front of the desk.

"Other than you...No" she replied sarcastically. "We're all at it...it's the Seattle Grace gang bang frat club or whatever."

Erica leant back in her chair and laughed. It was actually a genuine laugh rather than the nasty or sarcastic chuckles Arizona had heard her from her so far.

"Not just a pretty face then" Hahn commented before leaning forward on the desk to look Arizona in the eyes. "That's a pity I was hoping you'd have nothing interesting about you but I can see why she likes you now."

Arizona felt her eyebrows quirk in response to Hahn's observation. Staying silent was probably the safest option right now or she really end up hitting Hahn with something hefty of the desk like the thick medical journal or industrial stapler. She could staple Hahn's lips together, that would be satisfying, she'd be sacked of course but it would still be satisfying.

"I've been reading through the information on you and you're an excellent surgeon" Hahn shifted the topic to work finally as she leant back and away from Arizona. "I don't feel I need to discuss your department so all I really need to ask is whether you would like counselling or not? The board have decided to bring in a specialist councillor and although everyone will have to speak to him once I need to prioritise people who would like to talk over the events of two days ago first."

It wasn't a surprise that the hospital would bring in a psychologist after the shooting, PTSD was common in victims of violence and the events in the hospital had certainly been violent. She had seen the gunman yes, but she didn't feel the need for counselling and she certainly wasn't a priority. Plus she was lucky enough to have Callie to talk to as they had both survived the experience together.

"I think it's an excellent idea Dr Hahn but I'm good thank you" she replied politely. It was killing her to be so nice but she was doing an awesome job at it even if she did say so herself. Hahn seemed to find her super politeness irritating too and was scowling at her.

"Fine" Hahn muttered, "go!"

Arizona felt something boil inside her at the way Hahn had just dismissed her. She really did hope Erica Hahn had been nicer the last time round because she had no idea how on earth this woman could convince anyone they were gay unless the person in question was male. She stood up and made her way to the door but she knew she couldn't leave without saying something.

"Dr Hahn I know this must be hard for you but I make no apologies for who I'm in love with" Arizona stated. Hahn looked like she was going to say something but Arizona began speaking again before the older blonde could remark. "However, I am an attending here and I should be spoken to as such. Next time you just tell me to 'go' I shall sit there until you address me properly whether you're the temporary chief of surgery or not."

Hahn was silent...stunned to silence; so Arizona smiled sweetly and walked out the office. She was extremely pleased with herself for standing up to her and she actually wanted to run to Mark and tell him. He'd tell Callie though and she didn't really want her girlfriend to know about the way Erica was behaving. It wasn't fair on Callie and it wasn't her fault. Besides, Arizona was a big girl and she could deal with Hahn on her own.


	15. Not about you and me

**Chapter 15**

Callie woke up to a page from Arizona saying 'rise and shine sunshine' at quarter to eight. She rolled out the bottom bunk and onto the floor. If she stayed on the bed she'd go back to sleep so the floor seemed like the safest place to be. She did it at home if the alarm went off and there was no Arizona there to kick her up. Forcing herself to her feet she put her shoes on and headed to the attendants locker room so she could get dressed into her scrubs.

She had got her scrub pants on but was still only wearing her bra when the locker room door opened behind her. Usually she wouldn't be bothered if any of the other attending surgeons walked in on her in that state but today she very quickly tossed her scrub top on in case it was Hahn.

She was about to turn around to see who the silent intruder was when she felt hands against her hips. Suddenly she found herself turned around and back against her locker with her girlfriend pressed up against the front of her with her hands on either side of Callie's head.

"Jesus Arizona you scared me!" she exclaimed, drawing a laugh from her girlfriend.

"Worried I was someone else?" Arizona smirked. The blonde was obviously glad that she had been terrified that it was her ex and not turned on by the idea.

Callie was about to chastise Arizona but the blondes dipped forward and pressed her lips firmly against hers, sweeping her tongue into Callie's mouth and silencing all other thoughts swimming around in her head. Callie responded heatedly and wrapped her arms around Arizona's back, pulling her as hard against her as she physically could. They had started something this morning in the on call room that they hadn't been able to finish and there was no way that they could finish this in the attending lockers room. That wasn't going to stop Callie enjoying their physicality for at least a couple of minutes longer though before the two had to get to work again. Just as Arizona's hands started to wander on the inside of her top and she was starting to really enjoy herself, the door opened again and Mark walked in.

"Whoa!" Mark exclaimed, "Hahn is right on my tail so detangle and fast!"

Callie had to suppress a laugh when Arizona virtually ripped her hands away from Callie and sat on the bench. The blonde was trying to look innocent but she looked so innocent that they had clearly been up to no good. Mark continued to idle up to his locker and just as he reached it the door swung open behind him and Erica sauntered in.

"Sloan you should be in my office now" Hahn demanded, "Torres I'll see you in my office in thirty minutes."

"Just getting changed and then I'll be there" Sloan replied sweetly. He hauled his scrub shirt of over his head, probably hoping that it would send Erica scampering. It didn't work though because Erica was far more interested in staring at Callie and Arizona.

"Shouldn't you be working somewhere Dr Robbins?" Erica asked curtly, "I don't see a medical emergency in here."

Callie cringed at the way Erica spoke to Arizona but Arizona didn't seem to react at all. The blonde just stood up and continued smiling as she made her was to the locker room door. Once she'd got to the doorway she stopped and smiled at Callie again.

"There is a kid in the ER who was treated for a compound fracture in a Spanish hospital whilst they were on holiday. It looks like a botched job and he's in quite a lot of pain so he'll require your delicate assistance Calliope. He's in bay four. "

After Arizona had finished speaking she opened the door and left the locker room. Callie could clearly see a spring in her step as she walked away but the door closed preventing her from admiring Arizona's profile for too long.

"Well let's have this meeting then Dr Hahn" Mark said cheerfully. Both Callie and Erica swung round to look at Mark and both looked equally in shock to find him completely clothed. Obviously both had been so focussed on Arizona that he'd been able to strip down to his underwear or worse and dress again without either noticing.

"What?" Mark asked as they both stared at him. "You were both too busy checking out blondie to notice me so I stripped. I had me penis out and everything but noooooooo lets all look at the sexy blonde. God I hate lesbians!"

As much as the idea of Erica checking out her girlfriend horrified Callie, Marks speech and the horror it caused Erica was hilarious so Callie just cracked up and starting laughing. She wasn't sure she believed he really got his man parts out but it was just funny that he'd said it. Hahn on the other hand scowled and began to walk out the locker room. Mark followed her, he had a meeting with her after all, but he was obviously intent on annoying her too. The last words she could hear as they left the room where Mark telling Erica that he'd been 'writing her name in mid air with it but she didn't even notice' and Erica telling him to 'shut it'. This made her laugh even harder and just when she thought she'd got control of herself she noticed a pair of Mark's worn boxers hanging on her locker door. They had definitely not been hanging there before which meant that he genuinely had been completely naked. This set Callie of laughing again as she picked up his boxers between her thumb and forefinger and flung them in his locker.

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Callie had been down to the ER to see the boy Arizona had told her about. His bone had been reset wrong so Callie gave him some strong pain killers and sent for X-rays. He was going to need surgery to correct the damage done by the incorrect resetting of his bone but it wasn't an emergency so she had no excuse to avoid Hahn's meeting. She hadn't seen Arizona like she'd hoped to either because she wanted to tell her what Mark had said. It did dawn on her though that Arizona may already know because unlike Callie and Erica she was facing towards Sloan and not away from him. Either way she wasn't going to find out yet because Arizona was up in PEDs with Lexia and a patient.

It was a good job Callie knew Lexie was straight and totally in love with Mark, even if the younger Grey wasn't admitting to it at the moment. If Callie hadn't been aware of that she'd have been suspicious about how much time her girlfriend and Lexie were spending together at work. It seemed that Arizona constantly requested for Lexie to be on her service. It might be a good thing for Mark though because now that Arizona seemed to be being Mark friendly she might be able to make Lexie see the error of her ways. Callie could definitely do with Mark and Lexie getting back together because he'd be happy again and not grumpy Sloan.

It was probably only twenty minutes after she'd seen Erica in the locker room by the time she'd reached her office. She could see through the window that Mark was still in the office and was sat quietly whilst Erica paced behind her desk ranting. She couldn't hear anything and she was trying not to be nosy but it was hard not to spy on what was going on.

Finally Erica stood still and Mark stood up and headed towards the door. Once he was out onto the corridor she grabbed him and pulled him to the side so Erica couldn't see her. The door closed, effectively soundproofing them so Callie began to talk.

"What did she say 'cos she kind of looked angry?" Callie asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh something about therapy" Mark replied cheerfully. "Then I asked her how her sex life was and if she needed assistance...she stormed around for twenty minutes telling me how much of a pig I was. It was kind of fun really!"

Callie was about to ask him what the hell therapy had to do with anything when Erica's office door opened and Erica stepped out into the corridor. She looked red faced and irritated at first but she brightened up the second she saw Callie.

"Cal you're early" she stated, throwing Mark a little sideways glare. "Come in and take a seat."

With that Erica was back in her office and heading towards her desk. Callie rolled her eyes at Mark, it was a little creepy the way Erica went all happy every time she saw her. Mark just smirked and repeated Erica's last words in a silly girly accent. Callie slapped him in the arm for his lack of sympathy and marched off into the office. At least he wasn't giving her pep talks today so obviously he had more faith in her not screwing everything up now she had survived last night's chat with Erica.

Hahn was already sat down by the time Callie had reached the desk. Callie took her seat and waited for what was likely to be an onslaught of personal questions. She'd given up on the idea of Erica being professional with her last night so it was surprise when the blonde began to talk about work.

"Obviously I spoke to you last night so I know you are not deeply emotionally scarred by the shooting that occurred here in Seattle Grace. However I also know that you did come into contact with the shooter and according to the report Dr Robbins gave to the police you were pretty heroic. It's probably already common knowledge now because of the hospital gossipers but there is going to be a specialist psychologist here for a while. Everyone will have to see him once but I want to prioritise people. Am I right in saying you're not a priority?"

Callie felt a wave of pride when Erica mentioned Arizona describing her as heroic but also a wave of sadness when she remembered that her and Arizona where the lucky ones.

"I'm not really the therapy sort" Callie admitted, "I have a girlfriend and friends who I can talk too if the need should take me so no I'm not a priority."

Erica's eye twitched a little when Callie said the word 'girlfriend' but she remained silent whilst Callie spoke. Once Callie had finished Erica fiddled with the pen on her desk for a few seconds before placing it in her breast pocket.

"In your opinion is there anyone I should be prioritising?" Erica asked. Callie wondered if the blonde was asking because nobody wanted to be a priority or if she just wanted to maintain conversation.

"I'm an orthopaedic surgeon not a psychologist Dr Hahn" Callie pointed out. She could think of a few people who had probably been affected quite badly but it wasn't her place to say.

"Erica" Hahn corrected her, "Jesus Cal my names Erica!"

Callie cringed at the vulnerable way Erica spoke to her. Obviously she had decided on a different tact and was going to replace her bossy demeanour from last night with quiet vulnerability.

"I know what your name is" Callie snapped. There was no way she was going to let Hahn dictate the way their conversation went today. Callie had let her do that too much last night.

Hahn looked at her a bit like a kicked puppy before taking the pen out of her breast pocket and fiddling with it again. Callie sighed and shrunk into her seat a bit. This was the last thing she needed after all the horror that had occurred. Why couldn't the board have just put Webber in charge?

"Well your department is doing well" Erica spoke up again. "I know you're not the head of Ortho but you are, and obviously have been for a while, the person who pulls the most surgeries as Dr Thom rarely operates anymore. After chatting to you last night I read through your information on the hospital records and you've pulled of a lot of big surgeries and a few breakthroughs. When do you plan to try your synthetic cartilage in surgery? You haven't got a clinical trial booked yet."

Callie sat and listened to Erica and silently tried to convince herself that her temporary boss was being this thorough about everyone. It was highly unlikely but she was willing to give Erica the benefit of the doubt for now.

"Soon" Callie admitted, "I'd like to give it a couple of weeks after all that has happened and then I'll get it organised."

"Great" Erica instantly piped up. "It will be good for the hospital. I noticed Robbins and Sheppard have been doing a lot of great work but other attending are not putting in the time. I've been told that Sloan has been looking at some experimental cleft palate surgery and I'm sure there are others who have flirted with the idea of research but haven't got round to it. If this hospital is going to break into the top two teaching hospitals in the country then the attending surgeons need to step up to the mark and lead by example."

Callie knew that this forward planning was because Erica wanted the job full time. If she could get a couple of attendings to take on major research and surgical projects then it would make her look exceptionally good to the board. This made Callie determined to avoid starting her cartilage surgeries until Hahn was gone. There was no way Hahn being the full time Chief of Surgery was going to work for Callie.

Whilst Callie was thinking Hahn had stood up and was now standing on Callie's side of the table less than a metre away. She was about to ask the blonde what the hell she was doing but Erica sat down on the desk to the side of her and sighed. Callie didn't know where to look so she glanced out the window and onto the walk way to see who was going past. She didn't really want anyone to misinterpret what was happening but she knew a lot of the hospital staff would twist anything regardless of whether it looked bad or not. It was then that she saw a small piece of tape on the handrail of the walkway. It had obviously not come of when they took the evidence tape down the morning before and it reminded her that she was overlooking where Derek Sheppard nearly lost his life.

"She's very attractive" Erica's words broke Callie from her thoughts and she turned her head to look at her ex. "Your PEDs surgeon, she's very attractive but I can't help but notice that she's blonde haired...blue eyed...a bit like me but better looking obviously..."

"Erica!" Callie snapped, stopping Hahn in her tracks. "I'm not discussing my taste in women with you okay? This meeting and your tenure here shouldn't be about me and you. Do you understand what happened here? Do you know that Derek Sheppard was shot about ten metres away from this room? Do you realise that two of my friends had to battle to save the lives of two colleagues, one of whom did so with a gun pointed to her head? This isn't about you and me and I'm damn sure that if you were more like Arizona then you wouldn't try to make it about you and me!"

Callie stood up determined to leave and began to storm out the office. She'd actually made it into the corridor before Hahn caught up with her and grabbed her arm. They were in full view of several nurses, doctors, executives and even a security officer or two who were being vigilant for members of the press.

"Cal I'm sorry I shouldn't make this about us I know but it's hard" Erica tried to explain. "It's just the second I saw you again I knew I wasn't going to be able to shake you out of my head. I shouldn't have walked away and I really need for you to forgive me for that."

"Oh I forgive you for walking away" Callie snapped, frustration clear in her voice. "What I'm not forgiving you for is the coming back part!"

She pried her hands away from Erica and stormed away and across the bridge leaving the blonde stood motionless. She needed to get as far away as she could and quickly so Erica wasn't tempted to follow her so she kept her head down and kept walking. Once she was sure Erica Hahn hadn't followed her she slowed and looked for somewhere to hide for a few minutes to regain her composure. The nearest available slot was a supplies cupboard so she threw the door open and marched in only to stop due to a mixture of surprise and disgust. She had just walked in on crazy intern sex and even though she'd done it herself in the past she was not impressed.

"Not in the store cupboard guys" she yelled, "there is sterile equipment in here for crying out loud! Go find a bed!"

She was waiting around for the two of them to get out because she wasn't so keen on the idea of staying in that room right now after seeing that. Instead she turned on her heals and headed out to find herself somewhere that hadn't been soiled that day.


	16. Screw Hahn

**Chapter 16**

Arizona had headed to the ER after her 'meeting' with Hahn and found Lexie and the girl with the inner ear problem. Lexie met Arizona away from the patient and her father and began to go through the child's problems.

"I'm pretty sure she has Meniere's disease because she's apparently been suffering with vertigo, nausea and tinnitus" Lexie explained. "It's happened several times before apparently but not as regularly as it's happened in the last couple of weeks. I've just ordered an audiogram and an MRI with gadolinium enhancement and explained to the parents what I think is happening. Is that okay? Mark told me that you said to handle it so... "

"That sounds perfect," Arizona cut in, smiling at the resident's efficiency. It sounded like a sound diagnosis and the scans she'd ordered would cover most inner ear problems anyway.

Lexie smiled brightly and turned to the two interns who were waiting by the young girl, gesturing with a nod that they could take her for the scans. They moved the child to a wheel chair and began to wheel her of towards the PEDs department. Arizona and Lexie followed at a slower pace.

"I checked on John Williams this morning" Lexie talked as they walked. "He's not awake yet but his vitals are stable. Stable but not spectacular though."

Arizona was worried that the young boy was going to need more surgery and lows stats did not give her any hope that she was wrong. Lexie must have come in early to see him though if she was ready for work at six. Arizona had only been about fifteen minutes with Hahn so Lexie must have been in the hospital and in scrubs when Mark paged her.

"What time have you been here since?" Arizona asked as they waited for the lift.

"Just past five" Lexie admitted, "so I went and sat by his bedside for a bit whilst him mum slept."

It was an incredibly nice thing for Lexie to do but Arizona was wondering why. Could Lexie not sleep? It wouldn't be a surprise if the young resident was feeling a little affected by the shootings because her boyfriend had been injured and of course Lexie had nearly been shot as well. The lift arrived and Lexie stepped in and punched the correct floor number, Arizona stood next to her and watched the brunette intently.

"Alex is being a pig" Lexie admitted as soon as the lift doors closed. "I went to see him last night and slept on the seat in the room with him. He woke up at about four and was all 'what are you doing here haven't you got anything better to do'. So I came here and lingered around here instead."

Arizona looked at Lexie sympathetically. She liked Alex but she never thought the two would last and she wasn't surprised when Lexie had told her about him calling for Lizzie when he was shot. It was still hard for the young resident though, especially as she was clearly trying to get over Mark still.

"He's all over the nurses and he's just being...Alex" Lexie laughed at herself. "I shouldn't be bothered really because it's my own fault...I've always known he wasn't right for me. As everyone seems to enjoy reminding me I'm still in love with Mark Sloan."

Arizona wasn't going to be one of those people who reminded her about Mark so she didn't comment. Instead she found a convenient way to redirect the conversation.

"Talking about Sloan he was a legend before" Arizona said cheerfully. "I was in the locker room with him and Callie and then Erica came in. Whilst she had her back turned Mark quite literally stripped behind her back and she was clueless. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen even if it did involve me seeing Mark Sloan's penis!"

Lexie looked at Arizona a little dreamily and sighed. "I want to see Mark Sloan's penis."

Arizona just laughed nervously and was quite relieved when the lift door opened. Lexie made no attempt to move so Arizona gently pushed the girl out the lift, slightly concerned that just the thought of the appendage that Lexie had once broken could send the girl into such a daze. Lexie suddenly sprung into life again and looked incredibly embarrassed by the comment that passed her lips.

"So..." she mumbled nervously, "how did your meeting with Hahn going? She paged me just before you got here and I have a meeting at two."

That meant that Hahn had paged just after speaking to Arizona and it made her wonder if her praise had made Hahn keen to speak to the young resident. It was either her praise or the fact that Hahn had now decided that Arizona was having sexual relations with the young resident...and everyone else for that matter.

"She was unpleasant, rude and thinks I'm the hospital slot machine if you catch my drift" Arizona finally replied. "In fact because I said you were going to be a great surgeon she thinks you've been slotting...in my machine...if you get me?"

"You told her I was going to be a great surgeon?" Lexie seemed thrilled and Arizona waited to see if the young resident actually heard and understood anything else. "She thinks we are having lesbian sex?"

That's what Arizona was waiting to dawn on Lexie. Unexpectedly, rather than looking horrified the young resident burst out laughing. In fact she was laughing so much that she actually bent over.

"What's so funny?" Arizona was missing something because it just wasn't that funny on its own.

"Oh it's just the interns all thought I wanted to specialise in plastics because of Mark. Now they seem to think I'm going to be a PEDs surgeon because I've been here a lot recently. So if that rumour gets around then it's going to look like I'm such a suck up!"

Arizona started laughing too because that was sort of funny. Lexie was the last person who'd need to sleep round to make her way in the world and it was unfortunate but amusing that it would now appear that way.

"You could be a PEDs surgeon you know" Arizona finally spoke up when the laughter calmed down. "I know your hearts in plastics but you could be any kind of surgeon you wanted to be, although I couldn't imagine you in ortho though!"

"I couldn't break somebody's bone with a hammer never mind my bare hands" Lexie agreed, "well there is one bone I can break but it's not a skill to be proud of."

Arizona chuckled again; Lexie was a little bit legendary for breaking Mark's penis. After they had got together officially then the whole hospital realised who'd been the culprit of Mark's unfortunate injury and most of the staff thought it was hilarious. She was sure it was one of Callie's favourite hospital memories which actually was a bit mean on Mark, but hey, what are friends for.

Just as they had nearly reached John Williams room Arizona's pager went off. It was the other Dr Grey calling her to the ER for an emergency.

"I'm going to have to go" Arizona informed Lexie. "See if the blood tests are back yet, I'm particularly interested in the Bilirubin results in case there is infection in his liver. You should be able to take a urine sample for testing and if his belly still feels like it has fluid in then take a sample and send that for testing. If he's stable enough and comfortable then I'd like to check his pancreatic enzymes and I want another CT and an abdominal X-ray. Okay?"

Lexie placed her hand against her forehead and saluted. So content in the knowledge that Lexie would remember all that because she had the world's craziest memory Arizona strolled back to the ER.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Arizona arrived at the ER she was met by a flustered Meredith Grey. Who was running her hands through her hair as she instructed an equally flustered intern.

"Dr Robbins!" Meredith seemed very glad to see her. "Her appendix was swollen but I think it may have just ruptured so you need to get her to the OR now and I'll go find you another resident."

The young girl was a very similar age to Ruby, her last appendectomy, which had been performed on the day of the shooting out of an OR. It would be a far different experience today but somehow it felt a little odd having to deal with the identical problem so soon afterwards. Then it dawned on her that Meredith was offering to get her a resident even thought it was Meredith's patient.

"Are you not coming into the OR with me?" Arizona was confused; it wasn't like a resident to turn a surgery down.

"I had a meeting with Hahn yesterday and she's banned me from the OR because she didn't think my head could possibly be in the right place" Meredith muttered.

Arizona looked round at the collection of people on show in the ER. She couldn't see another resident, only interns and two attendings. One of the attending's was Hunt and he couldn't operate because of his shoulder so he was just running the pit. The other attending seemed to be dealing with his own problem because he was hovering over an elderly lady who seemed to be having a stroke.

"Do you feel like you shouldn't operate?" Arizona asked. Meredith had been looking round the ER too but her attention snapped back to Arizona.

"I'm fine" she replied determinedly. "Derek is going to be fine and yes the miscarriage was sad but we'll just have to go have plenty of sex once he's better and I'll get knocked up again."

Arizona wanted to laugh at Meredith's bluntness but it didn't seem like the right time so she forced herself to remain sensible. One thing she was sure of thought was that Meredith was coping with everything just as well if not better than most of the staff.

"Well I need a good resident with me and I don't see another one around so get scrubbed in and screw Hahn" Arizona instructed. She knew she could get into trouble for this but they were short of surgeons as it was at the moment so it seemed crazy to write of one more without a really good reason.

"It would be my pleasure" Meredith smirked, "I'll go prep her for surgery."

Arizona was about to go find them an OR when Hunt caught her attention. She walked over to him by the main ER desk.

"I've just booked you OR 1" he explained to her, "but Arizona are you sure you know what you're doing? Hahn may flip if she realises you've gone against her wishes."

Arizona didn't know if he'd overheard or just guessed what was going on but either way she knew his concerns were genuine.

"She probably will but I'm confident that Meredith is more capable right now than any of the other options available to me" Arizona stated. Hunt nodded in agreement but there was still concern in his eyes.

"Okay" he said, "If Hahn kicks of then I'll back you because I agree with your assessment."

"You don't have to Owen" Arizona replied softly. There was no reason he should get into trouble with her if Hahn kicked off but it was lovely of him to offer.

"There isn't too much else I can do to help at the moment Arizona apart from man the pit" Hunt explained. "So let me back you if Hahn tries anything okay? Let me help by standing up for you."

Arizona hugged him instantly in response to what he said. She knew he'd messed up a bit over the love triangle with Christina and Teddy but he was such a genuinely nice guy. He was probably one of the most genuine people she had even met and in some ways he reminded her of her brother.

"Thank you" she told him as she pulled out of the hug. He seemed a little surprised by her actions but looked kind of happy at the same time. It occurred to Arizona that he probably needed a hug after everything that had happened. It wasn't like he could go home and talk it through with his girlfriend because the person he loved still wasn't speaking to him.

"Go and be awesome" Owen quipped, "or I'll go take over your surgery and be the one armed bandit!"


	17. Proposals

**Chapter 17**

Callie had gone straight to the PEDs wing to check on the boy with the incorrectly reset leg after her crappy meeting with Erica. She'd hoped to see Arizona there but instead she found out from Lexie that Arizona was now in the ER with Meredith and had been for a while. Callie was disappointed that she couldn't speak to Arizona about Hahn's little outburst and a little worried how Arizona would react if she found out from someone else. It would be frustrating if Arizona thought she was keeping things from her. Callie decided to sneak down to the ER after she'd finished up on the PEDs ward and speak to her.

Once she'd checked on the patient she went down to preliminary book an OR for the afternoon. She hadn't got the X-rays back quite yet but she knew she was going to have to operate. There seemed little point holding of booking an OR and risking not being able to get one today. She paged Bailey to ask if it was okay to touch the board and she was instantly paged back telling her to write her surgery on the board and then get her ass down to the ER. It was nice to see that although all kinds of shit was going on that Bailey still retained her usual charm.

It only took her about ten minutes to reach Bailey in the ER. The general attending surgeon was stood with Christina, a young girl (who was sat on a chair) and a woman who looked a similar age to Bailey. The young girls hand was clearly bleeding and disfigured so Callie knew she was there for a consult.

"This is Emma" Bailey introduced her patient, "she trapped her hand in the trunk of her dad's car."

Callie knelt next to the little blonde girl and lifted her hand so she could view it. It was obviously causing the girl a lot of pain because she sniffled the second Callie touched the hand. All five of her fingers were clearly badly broken and Callie was sure she needed to wire them all back together so they would heal correctly. This kind of break was possible if a trunk closed on a child's hand but there was something that Callie noticed that caused suspicion to arise in her.

"Christina?" Callie asked as she stood up, "could you take her mother to fill in some paperwork, Emma is going to need an X-ray and surgery...oh and can you also send Hunt over to me please?"

Christina looked a little confused as usually the parents would fill in paperwork up in the PED department in a situation like this but she followed that order of Callie's without question.

"Owen?" Christina protested, "Callie he keeps staring at me and I really don't know if I'm ready to speak to him yet."

Callie just glared at her flatmate in response so Christina sighed and nodded. Once Christina and the mother were out of earshot Callie pulled Bailey away from the young girl.

"Bailey I don't think the trunk of a car did this" she whispered. "You see when a trunk comes down on your hand it comes down in a straight line and the breaks reflect that. This girl's break's are uneven and look more consistent with something wider than a trunk. It looks to me like these breaks have occurred one by one with something that doesn't come down with the same amount of pressure each time. Like a man or woman holding a hammer or something equally as unpleasant."

Bailey just looked between Callie and the little girl in horror. The little girl seemed to be very interested in her wounds and luckily didn't see Bailey's expression. Just as Bailey looked like she was about to comment Owen arrived in the bay.

"Dr Hunt" Callie greeted him quietly, "I need you to have a look at this girls hand and if you're as suspicious as I am then I need you ring the police whilst I admit her into the PEDs department."

Hunt's eyes flickered so Callie knew he'd understood exactly what she was saying to him. He moved towards the girl and smiled at her as he took her hand in his, causing the girl to grimace in pain. He looked over the wounds for a few seconds before gently placing the hand back on the girls lap and standing up. He didn't need words and as he walked past Callie and Bailey he merely placed his hand by his ear and made the phone sign. He agreed with her, the kid had not caught her hand in the trunk of a car.

"I hate this job sometimes" Bailey muttered, "I'll take her to PEDs and stay with her."

Bailey was much less hot headed than her so Callie thought it was probably best if Bailey went to the X-ray with Emma. She was much less likely to slap the mother of the girl in temper. An intern started to escort the mother and the girl out of the ER and Christina and Bailey lingered behind to speak to Callie.

"What's going on?" Christina asked. "Who is Owen ringing?"

"The police" Bailey snarled, "the injuries were not caused by a trunk apparently."

"Argh that screwed up" Christina stated bluntly. "Who hurts kids? Damn sick bastards."

It was probably a really unprofessional way of looking at the situation but Callie totally agreed with Yang's assessment.

"Shouldn't someone tell Hahn now it's her frickin' hospital?" Christina pointed out, causing both Callie and Bailey to groan.

"You can do it Bailey because I've just had my meeting with her and it **did not** go well!" Callie muttered.

Both the women looked at her expectantly waiting for her to continue. Callie wasn't sure what to say though, especially as Bailey didn't usually do personal.

"She tried to get all personal with me so I stormed out" Callie explained. "Then she followed me into the corridor and made a big show about still caring for me in the corridor in front of looooaaads of people!"

Bailey just gestured to the heavens in response and Christina laughed. Callie was hoping for a bit more sympathy but it seemed Bailey's silent prayer was all she was getting.

"That woman is a menace" Bailey finally stated.

"She is" Callie agreed. "I wanted to tell Arizona about it so she heard it from me first but I keep on missing her. Lexie said she was down here with Meredith but I can't see her."

"She's in an appendectomy with Meredith" Christina informed her, "Meredith paged me to cover her in the pit so Hahn didn't find out because she's technically not meant to be operating at the moment."

That sounded a little too much like Arizona playing with fire for Callie's liking but there was little she could do about it now. She made a mental note to speak to her later about it.

"Ah Hunt" Bailey suddenly spoke up, "I don't suppose you could ring Hahn and let her know what's going on could you?"

Callie swung round to look at Owen who didn't seem too bothered about ringing the temporary chief. He'd not really had any dealings with Erica as he'd only been there for about a week before she went on her merry way so he had very little reason to dislike her. Bailey took his silence as a yes and excused herself, following the girl and her mother to X-rays. Owen lingered by Callie and Christina, who was looking at everything but him, and Callie could tell he had something to say.

"Christina I love you" he blurted out suddenly, causing both Christina and Callie to look at him. Christina just looked shell shocked but Callie couldn't help but feel sorry for him because he looked like a lost boy rather than a hardcore ex army surgeon.

"You're going to talk to me about this now? In the ER?" Christina exclaimed.

"Well you won't talk to me anywhere else so I don't feel like I have any choice!" he threw his arms up in defeat. "So yes I'm going to talk about it here in the ER."

Christina was routed to the spot and Callie didn't know whether to move away and give them space or not. It wasn't like Owen was going for privacy and Callie really wanted to hear what he had to say so she decided to stay put.

"I love you and I'm so sorry I messed up. Teddy threw me into a loop being here because she brought back all those memories of Iraq and I knew she could understand what I was feeling better than anyone else. I don't love her though Christina, she's just a friend, she's not the person I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Christina listened to his speech in silence and remained silent even after he'd finished. Callie looked on at her in despair, desperate for her flat mate to just leap into his arms and forgive him.

"I know you love me too because you wouldn't have took so much crap of me if you didn't" Owen continued. "So I've been doing a lot of thinking about life and love and the future and I can't imagine my life without you in it. I think this week has proven that life's can be too short to mess around so I want to commit to you forever. I want to marry you Christina. Will you marry me?"

Callie nearly jumped into his arms and said yes for Christina, but her flatmate still didn't move. The resident just continued to stare at Owen like he'd grown an extra limb or dyed his hair pink.

"I have a ring so this isn't one of those on a whim things" Owen admitted, "so think about it please...please think about it."

With that he turned and walked away, heading out of the front of the ER and into the ambulance bays. He was going to get some fresh air before coming back inside and facing the pit again and Callie couldn't blame him. He'd shown some balls to do that in front of people and a good deal of humility.

"I can't believe he just asked me to marry him" Christina muttered in a state of shock. She didn't seem overly moved by his proposal though and Callie felt like shaking her.

"Christina do you know what I'd do if Arizona came up and asked me to marry her right now?" Callie decided to take the bull by the proverbial horns and talk this through with Yang whether she liked it or not.

"Cry?" Christina shrugged in response.

"No...well yes probably" It wasn't the reply that Callie was expecting but it was probably correct. She had spent a week crying into her cereal in front of Christina over Arizona so it wasn't a surprise that her roommate represented Arizona with Callie's tears.

"But I'd also run around the hospital telling anyone and everyone because I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her" Callie continued. "You love Owen so go say yes and go run round the hospital being happy for god's sake!"

Christina looked disgusted by the idea for a second before her features softened and then broke in a smile. Callie couldn't even count the amount of emotions that crept across her friends face, nor could she name all of them. She just knew that the one Christina finished on was a happy emotion.

"Okay" the resident declared, "you're right...I'm going to marry Owen!"

It was probably the quickest turn around Callie had ever seen anyone make, but before Callie could comment Christina was already running after her soon to be fiancée. Half the ER was blatantly watching and listening in because several interns and nurses cheered as Christina ran past.

"Just don't let him forget to ring Hahn!" she called after Yang. She was delighted for them but shine would be taken of the moment if they left her to deal with her stupid goddamn ex.


	18. What are friends for

**Chapter 18**

Arizona's appendectomy hadn't taken long as it was a routine procedure and she was actually finished before lunch. Meredith had gone to straight from the OR to grab some food from the canteen for Derek leaving Arizona to deal with the patients post op. Not that Arizona minded at all, in fact she'd encouraged Meredith to go see her man.

About half way through the surgery Arizona had seen Callie enter the gallery and watch her for a few minutes. The brunette seemed a little agitated and didn't hang round long; after looking at the clock several times she had left. Her behaviour had seemed a little odd but Arizona just presumed that her girlfriend had a surgery to go to and had perhaps wanted to speak to her first.

Lexie was still up in the PEDs department when Arizona returned from surgery and had told her that Callie had been up to see her twice but was now in surgery with the boy with the badly reset leg. It wasn't uncommon for her and Callie to spend the whole day just missing each other but usually it didn't seem quite as important as it did today. Arizona just wanted constant reassurance that everything was okay even if she was just being irrational. It was comforting to know that Callie obviously wanted to see her too.

Once she'd dealt with the girls post op care Arizona went to John's room to speak to Lexie properly. The young resident was sat in the chair on one side of his bed, whilst his mother was asleep in the other.

"Dr Robbins" Lexie greeted her in a hushed voice. "He was awake for about an hour before and he's groggy but okay for now."

Arizona took the chart of Lexie and looked through today's information. They were awaiting all the test results that Lexie performed today but the blood test was back from yesterday. The results were not good and Arizona felt her face fall the second she saw the result, even though she'd suspected it.

"I've already been in touch with UNOS" Lexie obviously knew exactly what Arizona had just read. "He's A negative though so they are going to be hard pressed to find him a liver and pancreas anytime soon. I haven't told Mrs Williams yet because she'd been sleeping."

Arizona sighed and sat on the chair arm next to Lexie, handing the resident the chart back in the process. This was the part of the job she hated, the part where she could only offer a tiny bit of hope rather than reassurances. You could be the most awesome surgeon on the planet but you couldn't always prevent your patients escaping death...that seemed to be decided by a higher power.

"I've been sat here thinking" Lexie broke the silence that had drifted around the room. "I've been thinking about how this boy wasn't in absolute agony so I began to read his records and I think I've found something. He's been in the ER a few times over cuts and burns and his mother complained to his doctor about him not being able to taste things properly."

Arizona was tired, emotionally and physically, and she didn't recall things as quickly as the younger Grey did. However what Lexie was telling her rang a large alarm bell because it was a condition that she'd seen in its mild form in children several times before. She'd read about it in its most severe form but never witnessed it firsthand. She was damn sure Derek Sheppard would have dealt with it before but he was out of commission.

"Syrinxes" Arizona surmised. "Syrinxes in the neck often make people less sensitive to pain and temperature, particularly in the arms, upper back, lower neck, and hands. If they were severe enough they could cause a dimmed feeling of pain in the abdomen and affect the immune system leaving the body open to infection."

She'd spoken a little too loudly and his mother began to stir to Arizona stood up and pulled Lexie into the hallway. There was no need to worry his mother quite yet because they were currently only guessing.

"Should I order an MRI?" Lexie asked.

"We can't without asking for a neuro consult first" Arizona stated, shaking her head.

"Is there a neuro surgeon who can deal with this at Seattle Grace apart from Derek?" Lexie asked the obvious question.

Arizona paced slightly trying to think it through; she didn't want to land the poor child with a second par surgeon but she needed the scan. Then it came to her, it was not a priority surgery whilst the boy was so weak with his other medical issues.

"There is no one who can perform the surgery but he doesn't need surgery right now he just needs a diagnosis" Arizona pointed out, "so we just need someone who's specialising in neuro to request an MRI."

Lexie looked at her blankly for a couple of seconds before finally catching on to what Arizona was getting at.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, "I'll go get Dr Grey for a consult then shall I?"

It was probably a little naughty but Meredith technically could request the MRI even if it should be an attending. She was the most senior neuro resident and if she needed to she could probably run it by another neuro attending without getting them actively involved.

"There's no rush" Arizona called after Lexie who was already on the move. "She's with Derek so grab some lunch on the way first and then get her. I'll have noodles!"

Lexie waved her hand to acknowledge she'd heard her and kept walking towards the lift. Unfortunately as Lexie was walking away from her she was passed by Hahn who was walking towards her. The blonde gave Lexie a suspicious look on the way past, before setting her stare on Arizona again. She suspected that Hahn had come to find her to shout at her about taking Meredith into surgery.

"Robbins" Hahn greeted curtly. "You're needed down the hall with Dr Bailey. We have a patient who we suspect had been the victim of abuse, her mother is with the police now. You're wanted for a consult before 'Calliope' operates on her broken hand."

Arizona was given no time to respond to her as the temporary chief instantly turned and walked away from her. Arizona resisted the urge to yell something offensive down the corridor after her, even though 'bitch' was the first word to spring to mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The afternoon had floated by quite slowly. Callie had still been in surgery when Arizona checked on the abuse victim and she'd been down with John Williams at the MRI when Callie had come to collect the girl for surgery. Meredith hadn't had a second thought about recommending him for an MRI and she'd merely covered her back by informing the elderly Dr Jackson what she was doing.

The day had flown by and Arizona was due to finish in about five minutes. This was about an hour earlier than Callie was due to finish shift and the Latina was still operating anyway so she was likely to be late home. Before their break up Arizona would have just gone and waited in Callie's apartment for her but she had given her key back and could no longer come and go at will.

With that in mind Arizona paged Teddy to see if she had finished her shift too. She'd barely had a chance to speak to the heart surgeon since the shooting and now the hospital was buzzing with rumours of Christina and Owen's engagement she knew her friend would need her. She hadn't really believed the rumour when a nurse had told her but when Lexie and Meredith arrived on the PEDs floor bearing food it turned out to be true. Christina had run into Derek's room looking for Meredith and blurted it at him whilst his wife was in surgery. According to Derek she had virtually skipped out the room and the whole experience had left him traumatized.

She received a message back almost instantly saying 'yes, want to go for a drink?', so Arizona agreed to meet her in the lobby in twenty minutes. So after quickly running to the attendings locker room she had a quick body shower and tossed some casual jeans and a shirt on. It was quarter past six on the dot by the time she'd got the lobby which was probably a record for her. It usually took her at least half an hour to get herself sorted after work.

Teddy was already in the lobby and looked incredibly cheerful for someone she expected to be upset.

"Hey" Teddy greeted, "ready for Joes?"

"That sounds awesome" Arizona admitted. She really needed to unwind, not just because of Hahn, but because the patients she'd seen that day had been quite harrowing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It wasn't a long walk to Joe's and they were there within a few minutes. Teddy went for the first round of drinks whilst Arizona found them a table. The conversation had been focussed on one of Teddy's patients on the walk so Arizona wasn't sure if Teddy even knew about Owen and Christina yet. The second Teddy appeared at the table with drinks though Arizona discovered that she had heard the news.

"I know you're going to be all worried about me Arizona but I'm fine" Teddy declared as she sat down. "He's made his choice and he's happy. Plus I really like Christina so it's all good."

It wasn't that Arizona didn't believe that Teddy was happy for the pair, she just doubted she was as unmoved by the news as she was pretending to be. She didn't want to press about it now though as she knew if Teddy wanted to talk she'd do so after a couple of glasses of wine. Alcohol always loosened Teddy's tongue and hers for that matter.

"So" Teddy dramatically clasped her hands together as she redirected the conversation. "I had a meeting with Dr Hahn today and I think she's a bitch! I've met her before to be fair and I wasn't impressed by her the either but today, as my superior, she was a total bitch!"

Arizona chuckled in response and nodded. Hahn hadn't been spectacular to her this morning and had obviously pissed Meredith off the day before. Lexie had come back from her meeting with Hahn this afternoon and merely said 'she's exactly the same as she ever was...a complete dragon!'

"I believe she made a bit of a scene with Callie during their meeting" Teddy continued, "one of the interns told me because he was walking past at the time and saw it all."

Arizona had been focussing on her white wine but her eyes instantly snapped up to Teddy's. She hadn't had an opportunity to speak to Callie during the day and had no idea how the meeting had gone. If it had gone badly it explained Callie's strange behaviour in the gallery earlier that day and made Arizona wish that work wasn't conspiring against them. They had both been kept so busy that they hadn't even seen each other since shift started apart from the few glimpses Arizona got of her girlfriend in the OR.

"Oh you don't know?" Teddy looked a little embarrassed. "Apparently Callie stormed out the office and Hahn chased her and started spurting out her feeling towards her in front of several staff members. Apparently Callie was really pissed and stormed off!"

It was hard to explain the amount of emotions that rushed through Arizona's head. She felt embarrassed and sorry for Callie as well as being proud of her and obviously relieved that Callie didn't reciprocate Hahn's feelings. She felt frustrated that the board had appointed someone who was being so damn unprofessional over the trustworthy Webber. The most prevalent emotion she felt was a desire to go rip Hahn apart limb from limb and hang the pieces outside the hospital to ward off any other women who wished to be Callie's suitors. It was a really unhealthy prevalent emotion really...she was sure loving Callie was going to turn her into a serial killer.

"Okay!" Teddy exclaimed, "that's an evil look you got going there Arizona!"

Arizona smiled sheepishly and turned her focus back to her glass of wine. As much as she liked Teddy she wasn't about to share her murderous thoughts with her. Even if Teddy was well aware she was having them.

"How did your meeting with her go?" Teddy struck up a slightly different conversation. "You looked thrilled to be there when I walked past."

"She tried to be a bitch but I bit back a bit" Arizona admitted, "not too much though because I don't want her to think she can get a rise out of me."

"You want to hit her with a brick" Teddy smirked.

It had been the heart surgeon who'd witnessed her rant at the unsuspecting Alex Karev about wanting to hit him with a brick. Obviously it had stuck in Teddy's memory and she was on the correct lines. She was just underestimating the amount of bricks Arizona wanted to hit Hahn with.

"Many bricks" Arizona agreed.

Teddy chuckled and raised her glass like she was toasting the idea. Arizona joined in, clashing there glasses together and giggling like a school child. It was then that she considered how childish and bitter she was being. Callie had obviously knocked Erica back after all and loved her not her pushy ex. She'd feel really horrid and guilty now if a building fell on Hahn and wiped her out.

"Did you know that Hahn was living in the basement of the hospital?" Teddy suddenly piped up again.

Arizona retracted her inner apology, Hahn could get crushed. Callie had lived in the basement, Arizona knew that and she was damn sure Hahn would know that. That was just stalkerish and wrong and really annoying. Teddy seemed to know that Arizona's mood had plummeted, even if she didn't know why, and she swiftly changed subjects.

"So why don't you tell me about this poor lad you are treating?" Teddy offered.


	19. Always check your phone

**Chapter 19**

Callie's day had officially sucked.

She'd been run off her feet for the whole shift and had performed two surgeries, running over the end of her shift by nearly an hour. Not only had she been tested professionally all day, especially by the abuse case, but she had also been tested personally. She may have just experienced her most embarrassing hospital memory to date. It was definitely competing with the time Izzie Stevens came into the canteen ready to fight her over George. That was publically humiliating and having Erica Hahn shout out her feelings towards her in the main lobby was pretty damn publically humiliating too. It was like a giant announcement to anyone that was in earshot that Carrie Torres couldn't keep the personal and professional separate.

So by the time she was making her way up to her apartment it was eight twenty and she had no idea if her girlfriend was there waiting for her. Arizona didn't have a key anymore so Callie was totally relying on the fact that her flat mate Christina had been around to let her in. She could hear talking from inside the apartment as she turned the key in the lock but was disappointed to only find Christina and Owen sat at the counter eating together.

"Hey roomy" Christina greeted, "there is some left over lasagne if you want it?"

The pair looked blissfully happy which was wonderful and all but Callie had other priorities right now.

"No Arizona?" Callie looked around the room hoping to see evidence that the blonde was just hiding somewhere.

"No sorry Callie" Christina replied sympathetically, "I've not seen her."

The room fell silent and Callie felt completely defeated. She thought they had sorted things out this morning so where was she? It was really going to sting if it turned out that Arizona was going to stay at her own apartment or the hospital again tonight.

When Callie looked back towards her flat mate she found that Christina was watching her reactions closely. In fact, the usually stern resident looked a little sorry for her.

"I think we're going to have an early night" Christina put down her cutlery and gestured for Owen to follow her. He hadn't finished his food yet and he looked at her like she had two heads until Christina gestured towards Callie with her head. When he followed Christina's gaze he seemed to instantly realise that Callie was upset so he stuffed a few huge forkfuls into his mouth and bowed his head towards Callie as he followed Christina into her room. Callie wished she wasn't so easy to read, she seemed to be like an open book with huge text; like the top line of an eye chart or something.

"Wait" Callie shouted after them before Owen could close the door behind them. She may have been having a rough a day but they had something to celebrate.

"Aren't you going to show me the ring?"

Christina turned around and put her hand out so Callie walked over to take a closer look. Owen had chosen well and it was a beautiful ring. It had a diamond set into it like you'd expect an engagement ring to have but it was simple and much less grandiose than some Callie had seen. In short it was the perfect engagement ring for Christina.

"It's beautiful" Callie commented. Christina smiled and headed back into the room but Owen lingered in the doorway.

"Thank you" he virtually whispered, "I don't know what you said but thank you."

She hadn't really said much, just gave Christina a push in the right direction. Her roommate could be really stubborn sometimes and if she didn't was persuading then Callie wouldn't have had any influence on her at all. Christina was just looking for someone's approval.

"I hope you and Arizona are okay" Owen offered, "I know she loves you so she won't have gone too far."

Callie gave his hand a squeeze before backing away from the doorway. She was sure they had plenty of make-up/engagement sex to enjoy tonight so she planned to just distract herself and leave them too it. She had planned to distract herself with Arizona but that seemed to be going out the window. So instead she cleaned up Christina's mess on the counter and put the plates in the dishwasher before finishing of the rest of the lasagne straight from the carton. It was whilst she was eating that it dawned on her that Arizona was due to finish an hour earlier than the rest of them so even if her girlfriend had wanted to come to the apartment she couldn't because she was locked out.

Launching across the room towards her coat she searched in her pocket for her mobile phone. She hadn't turned it on yet so she started it up and waited impatiently for it to load. Once it was on two texts instantly came through. One was from the network and one was from Arizona telling her to text her when she finished her shift.

"Shit" Callie cursed herself for her stupidity. If she'd thought on to turn the phone on when she finished work she'd have text Arizona nearly forty minutes ago. She quickly text Arizona saying 'home now work ran late' and waited for the blonde to reply. She expected an instant response but she was still sat on the sofa looking at her mobile phone ten minutes later. Maybe Arizona hadn't seen the text yet? Maybe Callie should ring her?

Just as she was contemplating ringing Arizona's apartment there was a knock on the door. Even though she knew that there was a good chance it was Mark wanting to borrow something, her heart still leapt out of her chest. She launched of the sofa, narrowly avoiding falling flat on her face as she tripped over the coffee table and flung the door open. Arizona was stood on the other side and the blonde gave Callie a quizzical look which seemed to linger by Callie's right hand. When Callie followed her girlfriends gaze she realised that she was still gripping her mobile phone like it was a lifeline.

"I was just about to call you because you didn't reply to my message" Callie explained, keeping her gaze focussed on the phone and not Arizona.

"I was only down the road in Joe's with Teddy" Arizona explained, "so there didn't seem much point in texting before I left."

Callie felt a little foolish because not only had she panicked over nothing but Arizona had been sat around in Joe's waiting for her to finish shift. Callie had instantly presumed the worst when there was nothing to worry about at all.

"I forgot to turn my phone on so I only just got your text" Callie admitted, "I thought you were staying away again."

She had planned to just deliver the confession calmly and move on but the seconds the word left her mouth then so did a strangled sob. She really didn't consider herself the crying type but she seemed to be a lot weeping recently.

Arizona's arms were instantly around her and tugging them both into the apartment. She guided them towards the sofa and gently sat Callie down, taking the phone out of her hand and placing it on the coffee table. Arizona, still in her long black coat, knelt down in front of her and began to run her fingers through Callie's hair. It was the same coat that Arizona had been wearing the first time she'd said 'I love you'. In an odd way that made Callie cry harder because they'd lost their way a little since then and still seemed to be struggling to get it back.

"Shhhh" Arizona said softly. "I didn't realise you'd had such a bad day until Teddy told me about your meeting with Hahn. If I'd have known then I'd have waited around the hospital for you. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you honey."

Callie gave up sobbing into her hands and wrapped her arms around Arizona, pulling her close and burying her face in the blonde's hair. The day had been crap but she wasn't crying because of abused children or Erica Hahn. She was crying because she had thought she was losing Arizona after only just getting her back. She was crying because she was relieved and she felt like a huge amount of weight had come of her shoulder, allowing her to breathe again.

Callie finally pulled back and cupped Arizona's cheeks with both hands so they were nose to nose. The blonde looked at her adoringly but Callie could tell that she was a little tipsy as her eyes were struggling to focus. She could also smell wine on Arizona's breath.

"I love you" the blonde declared. "I kept trying to see you throughout the day but it just wasn't happening."

"Me too" Callie admitted, tracing patterns on Arizona's cheeks with her thumbs. The blonde had really smooth and soft skin and Callie had spent hours and hours exploring Arizona's expanse of skin before, during and after their lovemaking.

"Christina and Owen are engaged" Callie informed Arizona, sniffling slightly as she tried to stop her own tears.

"I heard yeah" Arizona replied. The blonde moved some of Callie's hair that was drooping down her face to behind her ears and stared at her lovingly. When Arizona stared at her like that it made her feel incredibly special and it caused an un-ignorable burning sensation in the pit of her stomach.

"They're probably having make-up sex in her room now as we speak" Callie stated. The second she said it she wasn't sure it was the best way to engage Arizona in conversation, especially when the blonde crinkled her nose in disgust and made a funny noise. Her aim had been to hint that they should have sex too but it definitely hadn't worked. It was time to be blunt and hope that everything was sufficiently okay for Arizona to accept the offer.

"Can we go have make-up sex?" Callie couldn't get any blunter than that. She kind of hoped and expected the blonde to jump her but instead Arizona leant back away from her and raised her eyebrows quizzically.

"Why what have you done?" the blonde asked. Her brow knitting with worry and Callie wondered if she'd been silly to push for anything physical tonight.

"Nothing!" Callie protested. She'd just thought that after they had been interrupted rolling around in the on call room and walked in on kissing in the locker room that Arizona was going to be as pent up as she was.

"Why do we need to have make-up sex then?" Arizona asked, confusion lacing her voice. "We had make up sex the other night didn't we? Can't we just have normal-super-awesome-happy-loved-up-love-making-joyful sex?"

Arizona perked up considerably as she said the last part so Callie knew that whatever jumble of words her girlfriend just used were positive ones. The blonde seemed to be focussing her best sexy smile on her, much like the one Arizona had flashed her at Joe's the first time they had met. It was 'the smile'. 'The smile' that caused the dimples and Arizona's dimples made Callie melt into a pool of lusting mushiness. In fact, it was a smile that really, really, really turned her on and it was Arizona's greatest weapon against her.

"I have no idea what you just said to me" Callie admitted, "but it sounded wonderful!"

Arizona giggled and leant back into her so that their noses were pressed together again. The blonde began to gently brush the tip of her nose against Callie's, angling her head as she did so, causing her lips to creep past Callie's without quite touching them. Every time Callie tried to press her lips against her girlfriends Arizona changed the angle of her head so that Callie just missed.

"Don't tease me" Callie whispered hoarsely. She learnt pretty quickly with Arizona that the blonde liked being in control and Callie wasn't above begging to get what she wanted from her.

Her plea worked and suddenly Arizona's hands were buried deep in her hair and the blondes lips came crashing down against her own. Callie responded as feverously as she could, thrusting her tongue into her girlfriends mouth and battling for dominance in the kiss. Arizona only let the kiss go on for a few seconds before pulling away slightly and making the contact between them in the kiss lighter and slower. After a few whispering kisses the blonde pulled away slightly to look Callie in the eyes again.

"It's early and we have time" Arizona explained her actions breathlessly. "We don't need to rush; we can spend hours just enjoying each other. I want to make love to you tonight Calliope if that's okay with you?"

As much as Callie wanted to tear Arizona's clothes of and ravish her on the sofa, the idea of actually drawing out the experience was really appealing. They hadn't really made love like that since before the baby issue cropped up and it was almost symbolic for them to do so. It was perhaps the biggest sign so far that they were putting their problems behind them.

Callie ran her hands over Arizona's cheeks and down to the collar of her jacket. She used the collar to pull Arizona's lips to hers in a chase kiss before easing her grip of the jacket.

"This is the coat you wore on the night of your birthday" Callie voiced her thoughts out loud. "Considering so much of that night was a disaster it actually ended up being one of the best nights of my life..."

"I love you" Arizona interrupted Callie's monologue. "It was the night I told you that I loved you for the first time. I'd wanted to say in for weeks but I was terrified. Then that night I just looked at you in your silly hat and your incredibly sexy lingerie and thought what the hell, just tell her."

Callie smiled at Arizona's words. She'd wanted to tell Arizona the same thing for weeks too but had never got up the nerve. She was glad that Arizona said it first though, especially as she knew the blonde worried about her propensity to rush into things too quickly. If Callie had said it first then it may have seemed cheapened somewhat, even though Callie would have meant it just as much.

"Well..." Callie ran her thumbs down the coat, eliciting a moan from Arizona as they moved over the blonde's material covered breasts. "I really do like this coat and the memories it provokes...but I really think we should go into our bedroom and remove it. You see as much as I like this coat I know it's hiding the body of the sexiest woman on earth underneath it."

Arizona chuckled as Callie pulled her to her feet and started to lead them to the bedroom. It wasn't her usual perky chuckle but a deeper, sexier chuckle that was reserved only for Callie.

"I hate to disappoint you Calliope but this coat is too tight to fit anyone else under with me" Arizona joked as Callie swung the bedroom door shut behind them. Callie smiled at Arizona's joke but she wasn't going let her get away with it. So she backed the blonde back against the door, trying to be as assertive as she could be.

"Don't be coy" she instructed, "you know you're hot."

Arizona raised her hands in mock defeat and Callie used the chance to grasp the blonde's hands and raise them above her head. The second she did this Arizona's sparkling bright blue eyes went a lusty shade of Navy causing Callie's stomach to flutter violently. She was never really assertive like this but she felt a little empowered now that they'd had their 'love conquers all' moment in the ambulance loading bay.

"You're going to find it hard to take my coat of like that" Arizona whispered, her eyes never leaving Callie's. Unfortunately she'd made a very good point but one that Callie could easily rectify. She manoeuvred them around and pushed Arizona onto the bed, straddling her legs. She let one hand run down the blonde's cheek and neck until she reached the first button on her coat whilst the other hand ran up along the inside of Arizona's jean clad thigh causing the blonde to moan.

"Now that's not a problem anymore is it?"


	20. Emotionally stunted?

**Chapter 20**

Arizona woke up to the sound of the alarm going off and Callie reaching over her to turn it off. It was seven and they were due into work in an hour but she really didn't feel like getting up. They had only gone to sleep about five hours ago and she was exhausted still.

"It can't be time to get up already" Callie groaned, burying her face into Arizona's neck. Her lips began to nuzzle and kiss the pulse point there but Arizona shifted to stop her. She really didn't have the energy or the time for anything this morning and Callie latching onto her neck was bound to turn her on. Instead she turned to face the brunette and lazily kissed her.

Callie seemed quite happy to go along with Arizona and they spent ten minutes just enjoying unrushed open mouthed kisses. They really did need to get up though so Arizona pulled back out of Callie's reach.

"Come on sweetheart it's time to get up" she encouraged.

Callie groaned and pulled the blanket over her head which was adorable but not helpful. Arizona tugged the blanket clean of them both and tossed it of the bed revealing their very naked bodies to the cold Seattle morning.

"Arizona!" Callie protested. "What's the rush? Work means Erica and after the other night I'm really trying to avoid her as much as possible!"

Arizona had got out of the bed and was reaching for one of Callie's dressing gowns when her girlfriend mentioned Hahn and she froze with the dressing gown in hand. She hadn't really thought about her girlfriend and Hahn's social outing since she'd woken up to find Callie in the on call room with her. She'd put it out her mind since then, safe in the knowledge that Callie was hers and she needed to worry less. Now she realised that she had no idea what had happened that night. She had presumed they had talked cordially for a bit before parting company but now it sounded like Erica had been awkward. Somehow it just didn't seem right that Callie had told her nothing about where they had gone or what had been said. Arizona wasn't sure if it was reasonable for her to feel that way or if she was just being her over possessive normal jealous self.

"What's wrong?" Callie scurried of the bed to stand in front of her. Christina really would get an eyeful if she walked in now to check they were getting ready for work.

"It's nothing" Arizona brushed Callie's concern of and tried to walk away towards the bathroom. The brunette's hand reached out and gripped her arm though, stopping her in her tracks.

"Calliope it's just me being me" she tried to explain. "I was just wondering why you hadn't told me anything about meeting up with Hahn. I mean, you didn't tell me anything before and you haven't told me anything afterwards. I have no idea where you guys went, I have no idea if she upset you and I have no idea if she said anything I should be angry with."

Callie averted her eyes from Arizona's and ducked her head and looked at the floor. Arizona wasn't sure if her girlfriend was feeling guilty or feeling pissed off but she whatever it was left the brunette shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"I think it would annoy you," Callie finally admitted, "and I don't want you to kick off at Erica and get into trouble."

Arizona wasn't sure whether to be relieved that Callie was just looking out for her, pissed because Hahn was obviously being a pain or frustrated because her girlfriend thought she had to hide information from her to keep her acting professionally. The second Callie stopped focussing at the floor and looked into her eyes again Arizona just felt sorry for her. It was obvious Callie was struggling to deal with Hahn and whatever she was up too and the best thing Arizona could do was be supportive.

"Listen I'm not going to fly of the handle at Hahn" she assured Callie. "I haven't yet and I've had plenty of prompting so don't worry. If you don't want to talk about it with me then fine, I'll try not to let it bother me, but I'd like it if you could be open about it."

Arizona stepped away again towards the bathroom. It wasn't because she wanted to get away but time was flying and if they didn't hurry up then they'd be late for work. Callie grasped her arm again and pulled her into a very tight and very naked hug. Even though it was a very inappropriate moment Arizona gasped at the skin to skin contact.

"I'm sorry I've handled this really badly" Callie whispered into her shoulder. "I've handled it badly with you and I've handled it badly with her. I haven't told you what happened because I'm ashamed of myself for letting her dictate play the other night. She chose the venue, what conversation we were having and when we had it. I just wish I'd been the one to control that but every time I tried she just took over again."

Arizona pulled out of the embrace and grasped Callie's cheeks with her hands, letting her thumbs caress the Latina's cheek bones. Her girlfriend instantly relaxed into the contact drawing a warm smile from the blonde.

"I get the impression that that's what Erica Hahn does best sweetie" Arizona comforted her. This remark drew a chuckle from Callie who looked less like she was about to cry then she had just a couple of minutes before.

"Can we talk about it over a bottle of wine tonight?" the brunette piped up. "We really need to get ready for work. We're actually going to have to have one of those joint showers were I keep my hands off you!"

"Heaven forbid" Arizona chuckled, "I hope these sick kids in PEDs appreciate my dedication to them!"

The shower was tortuous as every time either turned or moved then they would brush against each other. They had managed to keep their hands of each other and had got into work on time by the skin of their teeth.

The first thing Arizona noticed when she got to the PEDs floor was that Mrs Williams was not only up and about but also showered and changed. That probably meant that someone else was sitting with John as she had refused to leave him alone and only went away from his bed if a nurse or someone sat with him. She had a good idea who was sitting with the young patient so she popped her head into the room to confirm her suspicions. As she suspected, Lexie Grey was curled up in one of the chairs and appeared to fast asleep. She was already in her scrubs and lab coat and was using her arm and the sleeve of her lab coat as a cushion. Technically Lexie's shift had just started but Arizona didn't have the heart to wake her yet. The younger Grey could sleep a little longer until she was needed.

A long term patient, a girl with a heart condition, was due in at 8.30 for some routine scans and a check up with Arizona and Teddy. The long term patients were always the hardest ones because you couldn't help but become emotionally attached to them. So, on the one hand Arizona was looking forward to working with Teddy and seeing young Lucy because she was a little darling. Yet she also wished she never had to see the girl within the walls of a hospital again. She wanted there to be a magical cure but real life bites sometimes.

Just as Arizona was heading back to the nurse's station to check on her patient's progress over night the lift opened down the hallway to reveal a slightly flustered looking Teddy. Arizona hadn't expected to see her until later that afternoon after Lucy had been tested and the scan results came back.

"Everything okay?" Arizona asked as her friend approached at a brisk walk. Teddy came to a stop beside her and by the way she raked her fingers roughly through her hair Arizona knew she was ruffled by something.

"Meredith Grey just gave me the best friend speech over Christina and Owen" Teddy confessed. "I don't blame her really, she's just trying to support her friend, but I really don't have any evil plans to steal Owen back!"

Arizona gave Teddy a sympathetic pat on the upper arm. There wasn't much she could say really as Teddy had pretty much summed it all up. She couldn't blame Meredith for trying to ensure her friends happiness but she knew Teddy was moving on from Owen and was genuinely pleased for him and Christina. Of course, both of them had thought it a little rushed and out of the blue when they had discussed it at Joe's last night but each to their own.

"So how did the rest of your night go?" Teddy lightened the mood suddenly, giving Arizona a playful nudge with her shoulder.

"Swimmingly" Arizona tried to keep a straight face but couldn't prevent herself from smirking.

"Mhhmmmm" Teddy made a suggestive noise before turning serious again. "I'm really glad to hear it Arizona. You and Callie are great together...even if you are a little emotionally stunted compared to her all out approach to things."

Arizona had let her mind wander back to the night before but Teddy's words brought her back to the present with a bang.

"I'm not emotionally stunted!" she protested. That was a really unfair thing for Teddy to say because she'd seen how badly the break up had affected her. Lexie had been a constant friend throughout but Teddy had been the only person she'd broke down in front of, and more than once. She'd hid her feelings from everyone else with fake smiles and cheer but it just didn't work around Teddy.

"No but you're not Callie" Teddy pointed out. "Callie wears her heart on her sleeve and you try like crazy to keep yours private from the outside world."

Arizona had to concede defeat over this. Teddy was right; she'd been able to pretend everything was okay whereas Callie had just looked downcast all the time. It had hurt like hell to see her like that but in a horrible sort of way Arizona had been pleased that she hadn't just been forgotten and brushed under the carpet. She hadn't wanted to break up with Callie after all; she just hadn't wanted the same future as her at the time.

"No that's true" she sighed, causing a victorious smile to erupt on Teddy's face. She was just in the process of scowling at the heart surgeon when Lexie Grey stumbled out John Williams' room. The young resident still looked half asleep and was clearly mortified that she'd slept through the beginning of shift.

"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late but I was asleep and..."

"I know I left you sleeping for a bit," Arizona cut in. "Is everything okay? What time have you been here since?"

Teddy obviously had no idea what was going on and just stood quietly at Arizona's side. Lexie didn't seem too worried about Teddy knowing what was going on though because she instantly burst out into tears.

"Whoa!" Arizona exclaimed. She grabbed the residents arm and began guiding her towards her office with Teddy in tow.

Once they had reached the office Lexie latched on to Arizona and began crying into her hair. The young resident was sobbing so hard that Arizona could feel her shoulder becoming wet through the two layers of clothing she was wearing. Over Lexie's shoulder Arizona could see a very confused Teddy lingering by the door so she mouthed the word 'Alex' to her. Teddy nodded, understanding the word but still clueless to the problem. Finally Lexie's sobs subsided and she reappeared out of the crook or Arizona's neck looking puffy faced and embarrassed.

"Sorry" she chocked out, "I'm feeling a little raw at the moment what with the shootings and Alex and everything really."

"Is Alex still being a pig?" Arizona reached forward and gave the girl a sympathetic squeeze on the shoulder. Lexie snorted in response and shook her head, she less upset and more frustrated now she'd got the tears out of her system.

"Pig is an understatement" she replied. "Oh Arizona he's just being...Alex...so I have no right to be upset really because hey...I decided to date him. I guess I just hoped he'd at least try and be supportive or even just let me be supportive after what happened."

Arizona was pretty sure Lexie had used the same line about 'Alex is being Alex' the day before and it just wasn't cutting it. She wasn't the kind of person to push her opinion onto people but Lexie shouldn't expect to be treated badly just because he had decided to be pain in the ass Alex rather than the caring Alex he was capable of being. Teddy seemed to be thinking something similar because she approached Lexie and put her hand on Lexie's shoulder.

"Listen I don't know if this is going to be welcome or not but I was across town checking on Alex yesterday because technically he's my patient. He was all over the residents and the nurses like he thought he was a real stud. I'm not saying he's a bad guy but I don't think he's the right guy for you. You want commitment and understanding and maybe before the shooting he was into trying that. He's come out the other end of a life changing event and he clearly wants to be a lad and throw himself about. He wants to live a little before he settles down and you two now aren't in the same place emotionally."

Arizona was used to being the focus of one of Teddy's speeches but they were even more impressive when you were on the outside looking in. She was good at saying things nicely without really holding back. She was refreshingly straightforward and it was one of reasons Arizona respected and liked her so much. She was always a good person to get advice off.

Lexie looked a little surprised by Teddy's boldness but she certainly wasn't upset by the heart surgeon's words. In fact the young resident seemed to agree with her completely and was furiously nodding her head.

"That's what I thought" lexie agreed. "So I told him I was through with him. Now I feel guilty though because he was shot and I'm just walking away from him..."

"He's a big boy Lexie, he'll cope" Teddy pointed out as Arizona put her arm around the resident to comfort her. She could understand where Lexie was coming from but at the end of the day if Alex was pushing her away then there wasn't much she could do. It would be a bit different if they both loved each other but Arizona genuinely couldn't see real love from either one of them. Alex loved Izzie even though she had left him and Lexie loved Mark even though she didn't seem ready to still admit to it. Lexie was about to speak again when all three of their pages went off in unison.

"Jesus that must be a big trauma!" Teddy exclaimed as they all fumbled for their pagers. Arizona was the first to read hers and what she read made her feel cold inside. It wasn't a trauma; they were not getting called down to the ER. It was a general announcement to all surgical staff informing them that the ER and OR's would be closed for three hours in the morning so they could attend a 10am Memorial Service for those who were killed at the hospital.

Arizona couldn't find words and the others seemed silent too until Lexie's pager slipped from her hand and crashed on the hard floor. Arizona's eyes drifted to the pager before looking up to its owner. Lexie looked in a state of shock and Arizona was sure she could see the young resident's hands shaking. She stepped forward and grasped her hands knowing that if she didn't get Lexie head back to the present then the girl was going to have a full on panic attack.

"I don't know if I can do this" the words spilled out of the resident's mouth at speed. "I don't know if I can face up to this yet. People died! There was a gun man here, pointing a gun at me, shooting surgeons. I can't face up to that yet and a memorial is facing up. I'm terrified to go home, I don't want to be alone...I think I have PTSD because every time I try to sleep alone I see him. I can't even sleep in an on call room because I'm alone and..."

"Lexie!" Arizona virtually shouted her name at her causing the younger Grey to shut up and focus on Arizona. "We are all going to be there with you and it's going to be okay. Tonight you are going to come back to Callie's with me and you can sleep on the sofa knowing that we are only in the other room if you need us. Then if you didn't tell Hahn that you wanted to be a priority for counselling then you are going to speak to her after the memorial and tell her you are."

Lexie seemed to have calmed and her hands had stopped trembling during Arizona's speech. She still looked very vulnerable right now but Arizona was pretty sure that if she got Lexie's mind focussed on something else then she'd be okay during work hours. Teddy was teetering about a metre away looking sympathetically at Lexie. As an ex military surgeon Teddy had seen her fair share of PTSD and she obviously didn't doubt the young residents self diagnosis.

"I told Hahn I was a priority" Lexie stated quietly, "I told her that I was fine to work but that I needed somebody I didn't know to speak too."

Arizona was sure that Lexie would have been the only person who admitted to needing to speak to the psychologist. She was surprised that Hahn hadn't pulled her out of surgery as well as Meredith but perhaps she had saw that Lexie was trying to deal with it head on rather than hiding it. It was hard for Arizona to be positive about Hahn but she had to give her credit for not putting Lexie under more strain by taking away her distraction. Talking about distractions, she needed to put Lexie to work for a bit.

"Teddy and I have a patient arriving any second now so can you go check on John for me and check my appendectomy patient from yesterday? Oh and ring UNOS and see if they've had any luck locating possible organs."

"O...O...Okay" Lexie agrees unsteadily, "John, appendectomy, UNOS."

The young resident walked out of the office leaving Arizona and Teddy stood in silence. Arizona made a mental note to herself that she needed to try and speak to Meredith and/or Derek about Lexie because if anyone could reassure her it would be one of them.

"Is Callie going to be okay with that?" Teddy spoke up. "You know? The third wheel on the sofa thing?"

She hadn't even considered Callie's reaction whilst she was offering Lexie a bed for the night. She was pretty sure she could flutter her eyelashes at Callie and make her agree to it eventually but Callie might not be the main issue.

"I'll deal with Callie" Arizona replied calmly, "It's Christina I'm more worried about!"


	21. Bribery and Corruption

**Chapter 21**

Callie had spent most the morning talking a detective and somebody from forensics through little Emma Thomas' injuries. She was the young girl that Callie had operated on the day before with the badly broken hand. Callie had spoken to a cop yesterday but she had to go into the injuries in more depth today as her evidence would be critical if anyone was going to be brought to trial.

One of the worst things about the job was when you had to patch children up who you suspected of being abused. It was something Callie had to deal with more than anyone else because usually these children came in with bad breaks. The only thing worse than patching up abused children, was patching up murderers and rapists. She had experienced it herself a couple of times as a resident and she knew that Meredith and Derek had operated on a serial killer. Anything like that was bound to mess with your mind a little bit.

She had finally escaped and was headed to the cafeteria at about quarter to twelve. Two hours of meticulously going over the girls injuries again and again had left her feeling drained and she really needed a strong coffee to cure the headache that was starting to set in. She'd already felt a little drained after reading the page earlier that morning about the memorial service. She had tried as much as possible to put the shootings behind her but it was hard to ignore the extra security guards posted around the hospital and the shortfall of surgeons suddenly. The shooting was something that would never truly go away; it would haunt every member of staff in the hospital forever.

Just as she reached the cafeteria, and the wonderful coffee vender housed there, she received a page. She groaned in frustration causing several staff members to stare at her as she fumbled for her pager. She was getting used to being stared at around the hospital, ever since the shooting all the surgeons had been stared at by other staff members and members of the public, especially in the cafeteria.

Callie expected the page to be a message calling her to the pit or an OR but was pleasantly surprised to see it was from Arizona. Her girlfriend was asking her to come for a 'consult in the PEDs on call room'. The blonde had told her once that she had a better cure for a headache than coffee and Callie hoped that this was the case today.

Callie had hurried straight to the PEDs floor, ignoring the looks she received from several nosy nurses as she headed straight to the on call room. Inside she found Arizona sitting on the bottom bunk but it wasn't until the door closed shut with a loud bang that the PED surgeon realised she was in the room with her. The blonde instantly leapt to her feet and began to pace nervously, it was obvious that something was on her mind and to Callie's disappointment it clearly wasn't sex.

"Hey I need your support with something" Arizona informed her nervously. "I know it's not my apartment but I really need you to let Lexie stay on the sofa for at least tonight. I don't think Christina will be impressed so I need you to be on my side. Please be on my side!"

That wasn't what Callie had hoped to hear from her girlfriend's mouth on arrival at an otherwise empty on call room. She was hoping for something more along the lines of 'take you clothes off' or 'I can't stop thinking about making love to you'.

"Lexie? Why?" Callie asked, consciously trying to sound calm even though internally she was stressing at the idea. She wasn't a huge fan of a fifth person staying in the already cramped apartment and she knew Christina would probably give her hell.

"I think she's suffering with PTSD" Arizona explained. "She can't sleep alone so she's been sleeping in a chair next to the ungrateful Alex Karev or next to one of my patients. That's not healthy and if she doesn't get enough sleep then she's going to break down and I can't let that happen."

Callie couldn't help but feel a wave of sympathy for the younger Grey because although she had never suffered with PTSD she knew how powerful it's effects could be. Part of her still wanted to be selfish and tell Arizona that Lexie wasn't their responsibility and that they had their own issue's to concentrate on. They had agreed to have the Erica Hahn conversation tonight and neither had really truly talked about Gary Clarke yet either. She knew though that professionally as an Attending they had a duty to watch over the Residents and of course they had a duty personally to their friends. Even if Lexie wasn't a friend she knew that Arizona would probably try to help if she knew something was wrong regardless, she was just that kind of person. Callie had made a point of how superior Arizona was to Erica during her meeting with the latter so she could hardly deny Arizona something that underlined that superiority.

"Okay" she agreed after her quick internal debate. Her girlfriend looked at her disbelievingly like she didn't think that she could have possibly heard her right.

"Okay?" Arizona double checked.

"Okay" Callie repeated herself. The blonde smiled and nodded, obviously pleased and relieved that Callie was agreeing to her request so quickly. Callie had considered Teddy to be Arizona's 'person' but her and Lexie were obviously close. It wasn't like Callie would just ignore Bailey if she was upset just because Mark was her 'work husband' and not the fiery general surgeon after all.

"If she still has nightmares then she's coming in the bed with us!" Arizona announced like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What? Arizona?" Callie protested instantly; that seemed like a step too far!

"I slept in a bed with you and Mark Sloan!" Arizona instantly retaliated. It was a reply that instantly threw any attempt at arguing out the window because Arizona was annoyingly right. Callie had asked her to make a sacrifice for Callie and Mark's friendship and now Arizona was returning the favour. She would do this for Arizona but she could certainly think of better places for Lexie to go spend the night.

"I know" Callie admitted to the gorgeous blonde. "I don't see why we can't just put her in bed with Mark instead, I'm sure he could think of several ways to distract her!"

"Calliope!"

Even though Arizona chastised her lightly the blonde grinned, obviously understanding that it was partly said in jest.

Currently Arizona was standing about a metre away from her in her scrubs with her arms crossed in front of her in a very serious manner. She looked hot, especially as her hair was out and cascading down her cheeks and over her shoulders. Callie couldn't resist throwing a flirty smile her girlfriend's way as she allowed her eyes to roam over her. Arizona's reaction was immediate, her pupils dilated, the blue of her eyes darkened with desire, her breathing became erratic and her arms fell away from her chest and dropped limply to her sides.

"Fine"

Callie quickly agreed to Lexie staying over with the hope that she could change the direction of this on call rendezvous to something far more pleasurable.

"Is this what you called me to the on call room for? Because I gotta tell you that I got all excited and hot under the collar so this is a bit disappointing..."

Callie couldn't miss the lustful look that passed across Arizona's face before the blonde dragged her gaze down and then back up Callie's figure. Callie didn't really need a verbal confirmation that she was about to get her wish and enjoy some on call room sexy time with her hot girlfriend.

"I paged you to the on call room so I could make up for what you are going to have to miss out on tonight" Arizona spoke seductively as she shrunk the distance between them, causing Callie's breathing to hitch. She couldn't believe how turned on she could get by Arizona's proximity and her eyes; her eyes where beyond spectacular when they held that much desire. They were now standing just inches apart and the blonde's lips hovered teasingly just away from hers.

"Bribery and corruption" Callie quipped as she allowed he gaze to shift from the blonde's eyes to her incredibly inviting lips and mouth. She was so turned on that she instantly imagined what that mouth could be doing to certain areas of her anatomy.

"I'm thinking pretty corrupt thoughts right now" Arizona whispered throatily. Her gaze swept down from Callie's face to her lab coat covered body and her hands followed the same path and began to leisurely rid Callie of the white coat. Anyone just seeing the lust in the blondes gaze would presume that Callie was dressed in something less covering and a lot sexier.

"Let me guess do they involve me and you, naked, on the bed?" Callie surmised, giving the blonde her best sexy smile when Arizona lifted her head and their eyes met again.

"Most of them" Arizona agreed as she pushed the lab coat of Callie's shoulders and let it fall to the floor in a heap behind her. The blonde had already removed her lab coat before Callie had got to the on call room so Callie only had Arizona's scrubs to make a start on.

"Most of them?" Callie was curious as to what her hot girlfriend was thinking. "What would these other thoughts be?"

She began to tug at the bottom of the blonde's scrub top but Arizona placed her hands on hers to stop her. The blonde's accelerated breathing showed that she was incredibly turned on but there was also a very serious look in her eyes now too.

"Do you trust me?"

Callie wasn't entirely sure in what context Arizona was talking about. She didn't trust her not to steal her pudding of her plate if they went out for dinner but apart from that she trusted her completely. She knew Arizona would never hurt her on purpose but that sometimes the blonde's insecurities led to issues. Everyone has their cross to bear though and Callie had accepted Arizona's floors and learnt to love her all the more for them.

"Of course I trust you..." Her voice trailed off slightly as she was distracted by the look of pure love that was in the blonde's eyes. Whatever road Arizona was leading them down it seemed extremely important to her.

"Do you believe me when I say that I trust you?" Arizona asked with a hint of trepidation in her voice. She clearly feared the answer may not be the one she wanted to hear. "I told you during lock down that I didn't trust you but I do. I'm scared of giving too much of myself in case I get hurt, but I'm putting my faith in you not to break me. So do you believe that I trust you?"

It was a frank admission for Arizona as, apart from the night of the shooting, she never really opened herself up to anyone at Seattle Grace...even Callie. Why the blonde wanted to discuss this now was beyond Callie but she wasn't going to miss the opportunity to connect with her girlfriend in the emotional sense rather than just the physical. The answer was not a hard one for her, although forty eight hours ago it might have been. In that time though Arizona had done something that gave Callie faith; she had trusted her enough to not flip about Erica. Sure she had been upset that Callie hadn't told her about the pair going for a drink together but she hadn't jumped to conclusions and they were okay. So for the first time in a month the answer seemed so easy and so right.

She didn't want to just say yes though; it was too simple and too easy. It wasn't the words that were important though and she knew it. Arizona had to believe that she meant it and the best way to do that was to hold eye contact with her whilst she said spoke them.

"Arizona I know you trust me."

The blonde held her intense stare and Callie could see the intense mixture of emotion Arizona was feeling reflected in her baby blue orbs. She was happy, and relieved, and undeniably turned on but she still remained serious. Something was still playing on her mind.

Just as Callie was considering asking her what was up the blonde slowly lifted her own scrub top over her head, keeping hold of it in her right hand once it was off. Using her free hand she removed her bra and tossed it to the floor with Callie's discarded lab coat. Callie watched in confusion as her girlfriend stepped away, turning her back on her, and hooked the scrub top around the nearest bed post to them at the level of the top bunk so it stayed in place there. She really did have no idea what exactly was going on in Arizona's mind but she had a feeling that all would be revealed soon enough when the blonde turned back to her and shifted so she was leant against the bed post.

"Tie me up."

Callie hadn't known what was coming and she certainly would never have guessed that it would be that. They'd never really had to experiment in bed as their sex life never really felt like it needed spicing up. Plus Callie would automatically have presumed that she'd be the one to be tied up as Arizona tended to be the one on top. Although since the shooting Callie had been on top for most of both of their nights together.

"Arizona?" Callie decided it would be easier to ask what was going on rather than second guess her girlfriends motives. The on call room in their work was on odd place to start experimenting after all.

"Tie me up" Arizona repeated her earlier instruction although this time it sounded more like a plea. The blonde lifted her hands to the height of the scrub top too emphasize her words. "I'm giving you total control here Calliope. Take it."

She wasn't sure why exactly Arizona wanted her to do this and why now in particular but Callie could tell it was important to Arizona. This meant something big, something more than just surrendering control in bed but she really didn't have time to analyse it right now. The idea was appealing anyway, it didn't really need to mean something to have Callie totally turned on. Controlling the tempo of their lovemaking completely was an exciting prospect and one she prayed wouldn't be ruined by outsiders with pagers. So Callie stepped forward and pressed her scrub clad body against Arizona's bear top half, running her hands up to clasp the blonde's wrists. Starting with her girlfriend's right wrist she began to tie her to the post using one sleeve of the scrub top.

"You are so unbelievably hot" she whispered after she'd secured the first hand, leaning into the blonde so her lips were by her ear. "Every time I look at you I still can't believe your mine."

Arizona squeezed her eyes shut and moaned before finding Callie's lips with her own for a searing kiss. It was passionate but short lived as Arizona pulled away and gestured towards the hand that wasn't yet tied up. Callie wanted to slow everything down and enjoy this but at the same time she knew that they would be very lucky if they got another twenty minutes in this on call room together. Time wasn't on their side so Callie focussed her attention back to her girlfriend's request.

Once Callie had finished tying the other hand to the post she glanced at the blonde to check the binds were okay but Arizona's eyes where shut and her head pressed firmly back against the post. Callie was a little worried that being a fairly strong orthopaedic surgeon she may have pulled the binds too tight and it would be a little embarrassing if she had to rush Arizona down to the ER if she cut of the circulation to her hands for too long. Not to mention the small fact that they'd both probably be sacked.

"They're not too tight are they?"

The blonde shook her head before opening her eyes to look at her. Callie had expected to see apprehension or even a little fear in her girlfriend but when their eyes locked again all she could see was love and desire. Callie would never have thought that the act of tying ones girlfriend up could be so sensual but apparently it was. The whole experience was painfully beautiful and they hadn't even really got started yet.

Callie slowly drew Arizona's scrub pants and underwear down her legs leaving the blonde to kick them off for herself. Then she stepped away from her girlfriend so she could admire her fully. Naked Arizona was always a sight to be seen but there was something about the way she was stood now, trusting yet vulnerable, that enhanced her beauty even more. In the dimly lit on call room she was all pale flesh and womanly curves, exposed and unashamed. Seeing her girlfriend opening herself up to her like that was wonderful and Callie was determined to make damn sure the blonde loved every second of the experience too.

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To be continued...

Authors note: Don't panic! It continues in the next chapter, I'm not just stopping the smut here.


	22. Tied up

**Chapter 22**

Arizona was focused on two things. One, she was very naked and kind of cold due to the metal post that was pressed against her back. Two, her girlfriend was still very covered in her dark blue scrubs and was making no move to take them off. In fact Calliope was making no move to do anything other than stare at her. If they had more time she'd let the hot Latina look for as long as she liked but they were in the on call room in the middle of shift. Time was of the essence.

"Tick Tock Calliope" Arizona quipped. Her voice seemed unrecognisable hoarse, she couldn't remember ever sounding like that before.

Callie quirked an eyebrow in response before grasping the bottom of her scrub top and pulling it over her head without ceremony. The brunette's black lace bra joined the scrub top on the floor and Callie stepped forward and pressed her body against hers. Arizona gasped at the contact but the sound was muted by Callie's mouth colliding against hers for a passionate kiss. It felt like Callie had sucked all the oxygen out of her lungs but she wasn't willing to try and escape the kiss just yet. The scrub top binding her hands to the bunk was keeping her safely on her feet even if she was becoming dizzy.

Finally Callie pulled back and Arizona gasped for air, the first few breaths felt like they were burning her lungs. Just as her breathing began to come easier her girlfriend started to kiss the sensitive pulse point on her neck before trailing her lips down to Arizona's collarbone and gently nipping the skin there. Arizona felt her heart start to race and her breathing become uneven again as Callie blazed a trail down her chest with her lips until she reached her breasts. Her girlfriend traced the outline of one nipple with her tongue before firmly swiping her tongue over it. One of Callie's hands had a grip of Arizona's hip whilst the other kneaded the breast Callie's mouth wasn't latched on to.

Usually Arizona would expect Callie to give both breasts even attention but the brunette now seemed to be in a hurry. Arizona could feel the flurry of hurried kisses that Callie trailed down her abdomen and over the right side of her hip. She was that turned on that every time her girlfriend's lips came into contact with skin it felt like Arizona was on fire. The closer Callie came to her centre the hotter her kisses were becoming, so when the brunette lifted Arizona leg over her shoulder and placed a kiss on the inside of her thigh, Arizona moaned loud enough for anyone passing in the corridor to hear.

"Oh god Calliope" she gasped as her girlfriend placed a light kiss against her throbbing clit. This is the point where she'd usually bury her hands in Callie's hair to increase the pressure of her girlfriend's mouth against her. Hands bound, she was incapable of doing anything other than thrusting her hips forward slightly and praying that Callie wouldn't tease her for too long before devouring her.

Callie seemed to be enjoying the control she had offered her though and the sexy Latina pressed another light kiss against her clit before moving down and kissing her opening. She'd have described them as 'chaste' kisses if they were anywhere else on her body but there was nothing chaste about what Callie was doing. Driving her totally crazy was what Callie was currently doing.

"Please Callio...oh god"

Her attempt at begging was cut off when Callie's tongue made contact with her clit and began to circle the sensitive bud with the tip of her tongue. Her body felt like it had gone from nought to sixty in a matter of seconds and suddenly the one leg she was standing on was unable to support her. It was only her bound hands and Callie that was keeping her upright now and it felt amazing.

Suddenly Callie's tongue moved down and plunged inside of her. The brunette used her grip on Arizona's hip to push the muscle in as deep as possible before running the tip down the inside of Arizona's wall and out, before thrusting in deep again. Arizona felt like she was going to explode, or implode, or cry or quite possibly two of the three. Callie repeated the thrusts several times before moving back to her clit and locking her lips around the bud, sucking and licking alternatively.

Arizona was moaning on top note but she could do little to stop herself, it wasn't like she could put her hand over her mouth. Her hands instinctively clawed at the bed post and scrub top but unlike her normal grip of Callie's hair it was doing little to help her ride through the sensations her girlfriend was creating. It was torture, albeit blissful torture and it had been all her idea to put herself through it.

Callie began to plunge her tongue inside her folds again and she knew she was teetering on the brink of an incredible orgasm, just waiting to be tipped over the edge. Callie knew her body well enough to see it too, especially as Arizona's walls were starting to clench around the brunette's tongue, sending Arizona ever closer to orgasmic bliss. Just as she felt he world begin to spin Callie's tongue disappeared from inside of her. She was about to protest when Callie's teeth grazed across her swollen clit before biting down. It kind of hurt, but it also felt absolutely amazing and was all Arizona needed to leap over the edge.

"Oh fuck" she gasped out as everything began to spasm. She wasn't one to swear usually but somehow it just slipped out as the room began to spin and her leg totally buckled. Even thought she was blatantly already well into a mind blowing orgasm Callie continued her ministrations. Firstly the brunette's licked her aching bud with the flat of her tongue like she was trying to sooth the area she had just bitten. Then Callie turned her attention to Arizona's now orgasm soaked opening, using her tongue to lap up all the liquid before diving into her folds again. This was all Arizona needed to make her orgasm again. Callie seemed intent on cleaning away the evidence of this second orgasm too but Arizona's heart and lungs were hammering in her chest and she was becoming incredibly over sensitized and needed Callie to stop.

"Calliope" her voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper and she was practically begging. "This is so amazing but you need to stop or I'm going to pass out...or possibly have a heart attack...please Calliope."

As she said 'please' Callie halted, obviously understanding how desperate Arizona's plea was. The brunette lent her head against the inside of Arizona's thigh that was rested on her shoulder and began to kiss the delicate skin there whilst running her hands up and down Arizona's sides. She could feel the ragged breaths her girlfriend was taking between kisses and knew that Callie was trying to compose herself and get some air back into her lungs. Arizona had always mused that Callie must have a seriously good set of lungs on her because she seemed to be able to go without breathing much for ages. Just now was a prime example as Arizona had no idea when the brunette actually found time to breathe through all of those amazing things she was doing with her mouth.

Finally Callie lowered Arizona's leg back down so the blonde was now shakily stood on both feet and began to slowly kiss her way back up her body until she was stood, pressed against her, with her head buried in Arizona's neck and her tongue tracing shapes against Arizona's pulse point. Callie's body was now relieving the pressure on Arizona's arms and shoulders as she could now lean on the brunette to hold herself up whilst her legs still felt like jelly.

"Is it wrong of me to want to just drop to my knees and do that all over again?" Callie asked completely seriously as she pulled back to look in Arizona's eyes. The blonde couldn't help but chuckle at Callie's words.

"Not wrong" Arizona replied groggily, "But murderous...I think my heart would stop beating!"

Callie reached a hand out and brushed her fingers against Arizona's cheek. The loving look in her girlfriend's eyes totally melted Arizona and she pulled against her restraints as much as possible so she could close the distance between them and kiss the brunette. Callie's response was instant and the kiss was slow and sensual, tongues only just brushing against the others without a battle. Arizona could taste herself on Callie's tongue and it heightened her need to escape the restraints and reciprocate. Pulling back against the post she expected to break the kiss but Callie just followed and leant into her again, pinning her back against the bed. It was a wonderful kiss but it was driving Arizona crazy that she couldn't touch her girlfriend or lace her fingers through her hair. Arizona broke out of the kiss by turning her head but Callie continued to kiss her cheek and then down her neck again, too turned on to take the hint to stop.

"Calliope honey can you stop for a minute and please untie me?"

Callie stopped her trail of wet kisses and looked into her eyes again. Arizona could tell by the expression in her girlfriend's rich chocolate eyes that she was disappointed with the request.

"You can't keep me like this forever honey" she giggled, "I know I'm probably better behaved and all..."

"I thought we could wait ten minutes and then go again" Callie admitted sheepishly, bashfully looking down at the floor as she spoke. If Arizona's hands had been free she'd have took the opportunity to hug her for being so damn cute but her stiffening shoulders were a painful reminder that she was still very much tied up.

"It will be a miracle if somebody doesn't page us within the next ten minutes. Also, my arms are going dead and I really would like the chance to get my hands on you before one of us gets called away for some medical emergency... Calliope."

Arizona drawled out her girlfriend's full first name for effect. It always thrilled Arizona that Callie let her call her that when she hated anyone else using her full name. Not only did Callie let her call her it but she actually really liked it and Arizona had perfected the perfect tone to use if she wanted or needed something. She knew she'd got the tone just right when she heard Callie utter something that sounded like 'oh god' before the brunette started untying the scrub sleeves that bound her hands. Unfortunately, because of all the wriggling Arizona had been doing, Callie was struggling to undo the tight knots at speed. The brunette's hands were clearly shaking with desire too and Arizona had a horrible feeling that Callie was going to have to run to a store cupboard for scissors and cut her out.

Just as Arizona was starting to have visions of how badly that could go Callie released the first knot, allowing Arizona to sigh with relief. She didn't have to worry about nurses or inters walking in on her strapped to a bed whilst Callie was gone! As Callie turned her attention to the second wrist Arizona moved her freed arm around, trying to promote circulation and release the straining muscles in her shoulder.

"You okay?" Callie asked as she fumbled with the knotted sleeve. Arizona nodded in response as she continued to focus on returning circulation to her fingers by doing piano hands. Seeing her own fingers dancing around like that gave her an idea. She needed to keep her fingers moving to draw blood back into the capillaries there and she had the perfect exercise for fingers in mind. So as Callie was still struggling with her left hand, Arizona quickly slipped her right hand into her girlfriends scrub pants and panties and thrust two fingers inside of her. The brunette was so wet that there was no resistance at all, only soaked heat.

"Oh God" they both said in unison, Callie's hands at Arizona's wrist stilling as Arizona's free hand thrust deeper again. Callie moaned loudly and leant her forehead against Arizona's and the blonde could feel Callie's deep breaths against her lips and chin.

"How the hell do you expect me to untie you if you're doing that to me?" the brunette gasped out in between more load moans as Arizona began to thrust her fingers at a constant rhythm. The great thing about Callie being pressed so close against her was that the flat of Arizona's palm was coming into contact with her girlfriend's clit completely of its own accord causing Callie to roll her hips into the sensation.

"You're a surgeon" Arizona replied after a few thrusts, "You should be used to doing delicate things with your hands whilst under pressure."

Callie managed a sexy little chuckle in response and she pulled her forehead away from Arizona so they were looking directly into each other's eyes. Arizona could tell her girlfriend was fighting against the sensation to close her eyes.

"You are so incredibly hot" Callie stated matter of factly. Arizona felt her heart flutter at her girlfriend's words and the desire held in them. She was hot and she knew it but in her eyes Callie was the hottest thing on earth...in fact she was the hottest thing in the universe. The sight of the brunette rocking her hips against her with desire filled eyes was earth shattering and just as good as any orgasm.

"Oh if you think I'm hot then you should see yourself in a mirror right now" Arizona pressed her lips against Callie's ear and nipped on the lobe. "I can't even to describe to you how amazing you look and feel whilst I'm making love to you."

Callie's response to her words came immediately and in the form of a heated kiss. One of the brunette's hands tangled in her hair whilst the other roughly grasped Arizona's ass and forced them against each other harder and Arizona's fingers impossibly deeper inside her. Obviously the brunette had abandoned plans of releasing Arizona's left hand but the way Callie was using her own hands to rock her hips against her, Arizona was damn sure her right hand didn't need any more help.

Callie pulled out of the kiss briefly to gasp for air before plunging straight back in again for yet another heated kiss. This one was more desperate and less controlled that the first so Arizona knew that the brunette was getting close to reaching her climax. After another couple of thrusts Arizona added a third finger into the mix and it caused Callie's orgasm to come crashing down around her. She felt Callie's legs buckle against hers and her girlfriend pulled out of the kiss and grabbed her shoulders to hold herself up putting more pressure on Arizona's aching left arm. She ignored the pain and kept thrusting until Callie's orgasm stilled. Once it seemed like Callie was relaxing into post orgasmic bliss Arizona tried to remove her fingers but Callie's walls tensed and held her finger in place. When they released again she went to remove her fingers but Callie seemed to tense instantly. Arizona glanced sideways at her girlfriend and saw that she was concentrating hard on something. When a small smile appeared on the brunette's face she realised that Callie was doing it on purpose, which made it kind of hot... in fact it made it really hot.

"It feels good" Callie explained softly, obviously aware of what Arizona would be thinking about.

"It feels amazing" Arizona agreed, brushing her lips against Callie's and allowing herself to enjoy the sensation of her fingers being squeezed and then released.

Callie didn't just let her brush her lips against hers and move away and the brunette captured her lips into a soft and loving kiss. Callie was definitely a woman who could multitask because all the while she continued her slow rhythm of squeezing and releasing Arizona's digits. It wasn't an attempt to orgasm again; Arizona could see that, it obviously just felt nice for want of a better word.

Just as Arizona dipped her tongue into Callie's open mouth and began lazily exploring, one of their pagers went off. Callie groaned but continued to kiss her and Arizona wasn't about to protest at enjoying this for a few seconds longer. Then the other pager buzzed and the two broke apart hurriedly, knowing there must be some kind of emergency. Callie reached down and picked up one of their pagers from the floor and read it quickly.

"Crap" she muttered, "house fire, parents and children injured."

That was the kind the kind of thing that dragged your mind straight back to work no matter what you were doing and Callie began to frantically untie Arizona's restrained left arm. The second it was released Arizona shook it and had to bite back a gasp of pain. She may have prevented the noise but she knew her pained expression had given her away to Callie.

"Will you still love me if you have to amputate my arm?" she quipped as she leant down and hunted her underwear and pants of the floor.

"I'll make you a new one" Callie replied as she struggled to get her bra back on. Callie had a definite advantage as she only had to put her top half back on whereas Arizona had been completely undressed. By the time Callie had her lab coat back on Arizona was still trying to wrestle her scrub top from behind the post. Finally it came out, nearly causing Arizona to topple over and to her dismay it was extremely creased. She had no time to worry about it as Callie was already moving towards the door with their pagers and Arizona's lab coat in hand so she threw the top on quickly.

"I love you" Callie said meaningfully, placing a hurried kiss on her lips before breaking away and opening the door.

They had to rush because if they took ages to get to the ER then it would be totally unprofessional because although on call room liaisons were common place they were hardly hospital policy. Arizona was sure Hahn would have a field day if she caught them at it.

"I love you too" she called after Callie.

Even though they were now in one of the corridors of the PEDs department heading for the lift, Arizona wasn't going to miss the opportunity to remind Callie how she felt. She didn't care who heard it right now or who they told. Something about Erica's arrival had kicked something into life inside of her. They had been in a bubble before the break up, neither pushing too hard and both enjoying the ride. The break up had shaken that up and Arizona had known that she would need to push herself a bit more and give herself to Callie a bit more. However Erica's arrival had highlighted the fact that if she didn't move quickly and prove to Callie that they really did have a future, and that Arizona was truly 'all in', then there would be people waiting in the wings to snatch the Latina away.


	23. Inside Out

**Chapter 23**

Callie had virtually jogged to the ER with Arizona in tow. They had only stopped whilst they were in the lift, where Arizona put her lab coat and pager back on, and in the staff toilets briefly to clean up. It would not look good if the PEDs attending took forever to get down to the ER when kids where involved and Callie had no intention of letting Arizona get into trouble.

As the pair entered the ER, Callie could see that several people where waiting by the doorway in trauma gowns already. Mark, Owen and Erica were all waiting around with Christina, Meredith, Avery, April, Lexie and several interns. Bailey was stood by the desk, already in a trauma gown, with her back to them. The other's had obviously arrived way before them but luckily they were not the only late arrivals as Teddy followed them in to the ER, hopefully giving the impression that the three had walked in together.

Lexie was the first one to spot them and she headed in their direction with trauma gowns for all of them. From the smirk on the residents face Callie guessed that Lexie knew exactly why they were late, which meant everyone else probably did too. Bailey turned to see who Lexie was walking towards and actually smirked when she saw the two of them entering together.

Callie and Arizona began to strip their lab coats of and place them over desk by Bailey when really suddenly, and incredibly randomly, Lexie launched forward and hugged Arizona virtually wrapping the trauma gown around her.

"What the..." Arizona began to say, but Lexie cut into her words with a load of loud babble about wanting to thank her for listening earlier. Callie looked from Arizona to Bailey and there facial expressions matched the surprise she was feeling. Callie really hadn't realised how bad the younger Grey was being affected by everything because this was seriously weird behaviour. Then, after a slight cough from behind them got Callie's attention, she realised what was actually going on.

"Scrub top" Teddy muttered under her breath after she'd got their attention.

Callie looked at Arizona and the blonde looked down and rather comically they both realised at the same time that Arizona's scrub top was inside out. Lexie's strange behaviour was currently covering Arizona from the view of the nearby Hahn. Callie had no idea what to say or do as Arizona looked at her for some sort of solution, in the end all Callie could do was laugh which set Teddy off too.

Suddenly there was a clatter of files behind them and Callie swung round to see that Bailey had accidently/on purpose knocked several files of the desk . Arizona seemed to understand what Bailey was doing immediately and she virtually dived behind the cover of the counter 'to pick the files up'. If the whole scenario hadn't been so funny then Bailey's and Arizona's actions may have looked subtle. Unfortunately all five of them, even the crouching Arizona, where giggling like school children.

The other surgeons stood looking at them like they had grown extra heads and Hahn began to storm towards them. Obviously Arizona was struggling to change or something because suddenly Bailey dived down too to help 'pick the files up'. Unfortunately, the two were out of sight so Callie had to miss what was sure to be the hilarious sight of Bailey trying to wedge Arizona back into the top as quickly as possible.

"What the hell is going on here?" Hahn snapped as she came to a halt in front of Callie, Lexie and Teddy. "We've got a trauma coming in and you are all behaving like clowns!"

Just as she'd finished yelling Bailey and Arizona stood up from behind the counter at exactly the same time, both holding a couple of files each. Callie bit her lip to try and stop herself laughing again and Teddy turned away so Hahn couldn't see her face. Lexie followed Teddy's lead and turned away from Hahn to help put Teddy's trauma gown on.

"Too much coffee" Arizona blurted out. "We have all had far too much coffee... lovely sugary coffee..."

"Was there pound cake?" Mark shouted over from the doorway, "rich buttery pound cake?"

As much as Callie loved him as a friend he could really be a pain sometimes because that was all it took for Arizona to start laughing again. Arizona's laughter set off Callie and then it just went like dominoes around the room until all the surgeons except Erica where laughing, even if they didn't know why.

"Enough" Erica snapped loudly.

Everyone became silent at the temporary chiefs angry tone and the room felt uncomfortably still. Erica was glaring at Arizona like she was the only culprit of all this joviality and to Callie's surprise her girlfriend didn't seem bothered by the intense stare. Usually Arizona hated being shouted at by authority figures but apparently not Erica. If it had been Webber she'd have been crying by now.

"Although you work with children Dr Robbins I'd rather you didn't act like one" Erica snapped at Arizona, "not in my hospital anyway."

Arizona looked like she was going to just stare straight ahead and take the criticism in silence but as Erica said the words 'my hospital' Arizona's facial expression changed. It went from a blank look to a petulant look. She may have not said the words out loud but Arizona was clearly challenging Hahn with her look, she didn't consider the hospital as Erica's. Callie stood frozen to the spot as she watched the two glare at each other, in fact the whole room was still. The only person who moved was Lexie who seemed to be steadily gravitating towards Arizona's side.

"Ambulances!"

Meredith's shout ripped across the awkward silence, causing everyone to jump into life. Callie was grateful at the timing because she was convinced that it had prevented a major blow up between her girlfriend and her ex.

"Arizona" she grabbed the blonde's hand once everyone except Lexie had headed towards the ambulance bays. At first she thought that her girlfriend was going to wriggle free and ignore her from her fiery facial expression. Arizona looked at her and her expression softened before the blonde leant in and kissed her on the lips reassuringly. There was nothing passionate about the kiss, Arizona just let her lips linger against Callie's, drawing strength from the contact. When she eventually pulled away Arizona gave her hand a quick squeeze before taking a trauma gown from Lexie and walking off. Callie went to follow the blonde to the ambulance bay when she felt her hand being gripped by little Grey.

"Trauma gown" Lexie explained, holding out the gown so that Callie could put her arms into it. Once Callie was wearing the gown she went to step away again but Lexie prevented her by grabbing the sleeve of her trauma gown.

"Callie" it was very rare to hear the younger Grey address her by her first name so Callie took notice. "I don't think she's told you this because she doesn't want you to worry but Hahn is being a real bitch to her... like all the time. I just... she's my friend... and I like you, you've always been nice to me... so I worry."

Arizona had said something this morning that had made Callie wonder if Erica was being awkward with her, something about her having the impression that Erica liked to impose herself on people. Lexie was right though, Arizona was obviously reluctant to tell her about it. It was ironic considering Callie had avoided telling her girlfriend the details about her drink with Hahn for fear of upsetting her. She was glad that Lexie had though and was glad that the young resident clearly cared enough to try and help Arizona. She had blatantly been moving to Arizona's side to try and prevent her snapping back at Hahn a couple of minutes ago even though she had her own issues to deal with.

"She's worried about you too" Callie stated, giving the resident a friendly pat on the arm. Lexie smiled warmly and nodded in response, finally releasing her grip of Callie.

"I know" Lexie admitted, before letting out a loud sigh. "Is it really okay if I stay tonight? I don't want to be trouble to anyone... if you want I'll just make an excuse to Arizona and stay at the hospital again..."

"No you should stay" Callie cut in, "it's going to be a hell of a day tomorrow and we all need to have someone around us tonight."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The victims of the house fire were all badly injured and all the staff where needed to deal with the four victims. The twelve year old daughter had terrible burns, so she was taken to one of the trauma rooms by Mark and Lexie. The little four year old boy had terrible smoke damage and kept coding so Teddy, Arizona and Christina had rushed him to the OR. Owen, aided by Meredith, had the sixteen year old son who was suffering from bad burns in the other trauma room. The mother, who fell down the stairs as she was trying to get out, had a nasty head injury. Bailey and Avery had taken her to an OR and where awaiting assistance from the on call Neuro attending. Callie had ended up in OR 3, assisted by April, with the father who had several broken bones and burns from when the stairs had collapsed underneath him.

They had been in surgery for half an hour, trying to plate his right leg together, when another surgeon joined them. Callie had no idea who it was at first and she was too busy with what she was doing to turn around and acknowledge them.

"Kepner can you try and clean some of those shattered pieces of bone out of the way please?" Callie instructed the resident, ignoring whoever was lingering over her shoulder until the person chose to speak to her. If she'd have thought it was Arizona she'd have turned around but she could tell from the persons shadow that they were too tall to be her girlfriend.

April began to use the suction tube to remove some of the very fine shards of bone that Callie could not plate back together. These little fleck of bone were incredibly sharp and if left in the leg could be very abrasive against the surface of the bone or the surrounding tissue. The surgeon behind Callie shifted so that her foot was coming into contact with Callie's heel. They were far too close for comfort especially as she knew it wasn't Arizona or Mark, or even someone like Teddy or Bailey. Kepner seemed to notice the person shifting around and looked up at them questioningly.

"Is everything all right Dr Hahn?" the resident asked the person lingering behind Callie.

She had a slight inkling that it could be Erica behind her but she had hoped it wasn't. Now, because of Kepner's habit of sucking up she knew that it was indeed the temporary chief behind breathing down her neck.

Erica didn't respond verbally to April and now Callie knew she was behind her she couldn't just ignore her as Erica was lingering a little too close for comfort. She turned her head so that she could see her ex out of the corner of her eye and raised her eyebrows at her. She couldn't imagine that Erica would be fascinated by a boring and mundane orthopaedics surgery so she wanted to know just what the hell she was doing there.

"Callie" Erica greeted when she finally acknowledged her presence. Callie cringed when she heard her first name roll of her ex girlfriend's lips. They had had this conversation yesterday, she was Dr Torres, this was a hospital and she was a professional for god's sake!

"Chief Hahn" Callie replied in a clipped tone, highlighting the word Chief. She didn't want an argument with Erica but she was definitely going to stamp down some boundaries between them.

"May I ask what you were doing before I paged you?" Erica asked casually. Obviously Callie's attempt to separate the personal and the professional had just failed again because now Erica seemed intent on steering them down a road Callie didn't want to go down in front of a resident. It was clear April Kepner knew something was brewing because she looked incredibly uncomfortable and was clearly trying to keep her stare firmly in the break in the bone they were currently fixing. Gossip spread like a wild fire in this hospital and the second Erica returned then the likes of April and Avery would have heard the rumours about their 'history'.

"No."

Callie was determined not to have this conversation so she turned her focus back to the patient's leg and continued trying to realign some of the fractured bone. Kepner was now so uncomfortable that she was humming to herself and actually looked like she was doing Callie's own 'pee dance'. At least she wasn't the only person in the hospital who did that when she was nervous.

"You were on shift Torres" Erica raised her voice to a more official tone, "so what were you doing when I paged you?"

_Oh Shit! _ Callie thought; _she's pulling rank on me_. On call room sex was part and parcel of any hospital and was pretty much ignored by most people. Surgeons had high adrenaline jobs so it was no surprise that they needed to unwind sometimes. Just because people turned a blind eye to it didn't make it officially allowed however, and in reality it was totally against procedure. There was no way Callie could admit to it if Erica was after blood.

"...Eating lunch with my girlfriend" she replied a little less confidently than she'd wanted to sound. It wasn't exactly a lie... it had been lunch time and Callie had definitely snacked.

"You're lying" Erica instantly bit back, "what were you doing?"

This was really pissing Callie off. Erica was using her official capacity to ask her questions for personal reasons. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair and it wasn't professional.

"Listen I'm trying to operate on someone here" Callie snapped. "I am trying to operate on a man who saved his family, most of whom are also fighting for their lives. Haven't you got something better to do than annoy me?"

Callie had given up trying to operate at this moment in time and had swung round to look at Erica so that they were now facing off.

"Don't avoid my question!" Erica raised her voice even louder so that she was now shouting. "Like I need to ask of course, I know what you were doing and it certainly wasn't following hospital procedures!"

"Oh don't act all superior here" Callie shouted back at the temporary chief. "I of all people know you are not above on call room sex; so stop being such a hypocrite and get the hell out of my OR!"

"You can't tell me to get out!" Erica snarled, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

There was a slight cough from behind them and Callie turned to see what April wanted, expecting to see that her patient had started coding or something whilst she had been distracted. Her patient was clearly fine and April had stopped what she was doing and was staring at her and Erica.

"Actually she can ma'am" April finally spoke up. "She's the lead surgeon on this patient so as she said it is technically her OR until surgery is completed."

Callie couldn't help the broad smile that spread across her face at April's words. The normally timid resident was actually trying to stand up for her, against the Chief of Surgery no less. Erica seemed much less impressed and virtually growled in response before taking a step towards the terrified looking resident.

"I think you're well aware that Kepner is correct" Bailey's voice suddenly echoed around the tense OR. The diminutive yet forceful General Surgeon was stood in the doorway of the OR looking severely pissed with Erica. The wonderful thing about Bailey was that even Erica Hahn found her a little terrifying when she was on one and the temporary chief instantly stepped away from April again at Bailey's remark.

"If you are not too busy letting your personal feelings get in the way of Dr Torres saving that mans leg, your presence is required in OR one, where Dr Tipton requires you to monitor his very unstable patients heart whilst he deals with a bleed in her brain."

Bailey's tone was sharp and as normal, she certainly didn't mince her words. Erica put up no fight or argument, not that she could really as she was bang out of line. Instead the blond temporary chief turned and marched out of the OR basically barging past Bailey on her way through the door.

"Menace" Bailey commented to Callie once Hahn was out of earshot, "I don't know what the board was thinking!"

Callie didn't even get a chance to respond because Bailey stormed off after Hahn and back to her patient. It left Callie and April in the OR in an uncomfortable silence; both looking at the patient rather than each other.

"Sorry about that" Callie spoke up. April had actually tried to help her out so it wasn't fair of Callie to be awkward around her just because she was embarrassed by the scene Erica had just caused.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Dr Torres" April replied pleasantly.

Callie wasn't really sure that was true as although Erica had started the scene Callie had not shied away from continuing it. Her determination to not let Erica Hahn dominate her had caused her to act unprofessionally back at the temporary chief and that was not acceptable. Even worse than that she had also completely lost where she was up to in the surgery and she felt flustered and far too stressed. Kepner seemed to sense her anxiety and began to start work on the broken leg again.

"So I've cleaned up the area of shattered bone" the resident started muttering. "So are we ready to start tightening the plate onto the bone now or have I missed a step? I've never done many ortho surgeries before to be honest... not that I don't enjoy them... "

_That's what they were doing_; April's words jogged Callie's memory. She suspected that had been April's intention when she started chatting away. Callie had always found the resident annoying; in fact she was being pretty annoying now as she was still muttering away about something. However, her heart was obviously in the right place, not just anatomically speaking, and perhaps there was hope for her yet. Lexie had been pretty annoying like that when she first started the programme as an intern and she'd grown up a hell of a lot in the last couple of years.

"Ever put a bolt through a femur before Kepner?" Callie asked the babbling resident. She knew it was a pointless question because she already knew April wouldn't have. The resident had just admitted that she'd never really taken part in many orthopaedic surgeries and Callie would put money on her being in those surgeries to focus on something else like a head injury or something. Kepner was trying to specialise in neuro after all, that's why she was in so much awe of Derek Sheppard.

"No... never" April replied slowly.

The resident may have no interest in orthopaedics at all but Callie was determined to be a kick ass teacher today. April Kepner was going to leave this surgery feeling totally capable of repairing a shattered femur should the occasion ever arise again in the future.

"Well today is your lucky day Kepner... I hope you work out!"


	24. PTSDing

**Chapter 24**

"Talk to me Yang!" Teddy screamed across the OR.

Arizona could tell that her friend was trying to stay very calm but it was impossible not to be worried by the situation that was now unfolding in front of them.

"Just breathe in and out Christina... deep breaths and try and say something... anything... just so we know you are okay" Arizona called out a little softer.

The resident was lying on the floor behind one of the surgical carts and the only part of her that Arizona could actually see was her legs. They were moving slightly so Arizona was confident her girlfriend's flatmate was conscious but that didn't mean that she was okay. Neither she nor Teddy could move away from the patient as Arizona was in the process of clamping of a vein and Teddy had serious time constraints on what she was doing.

Arizona felt like she should have seen this coming, there had been signs that Christina was struggling before the surgery began. It was the first time Yang had taken part in an open heart surgery since having to save Derek's life on the day of the shooting and the resident had looked more than apprehensive. She was used to the cardio resident being so damn unflappable that she'd just brushed any misgivings aside. Christina Yang was like Iron Man or something, the idea of her having a panic attack in the OR was so foreign to Arizona she could barely believe it even though she was seeing it.

"Page Meredith Grey" Teddy instructed one of the less busy looking scrub nurses, "tell her it's an emergency."

The scrub young nurse looked in a state of shock at the events that were unfolding but she complied quickly with Teddy's request. The Cardio Surgeon then looked across at Arizona as if to say 'I can't believe this is happening' and shook her head. Both needed to concentrate on the four year old boy on the table in front of them but it was hard to do with Christina PTSD-ing on the floor in the corner. It wasn't that Arizona was unsympathetic to Yang right now; she felt horrible for her, but she could really do with her getting her traumatized ass out of the OR so they could focus on this poor little boy.

"So Yang you're getting married" Teddy changed her tactics with the silent surgeon, all the while continuing to operate on the boys tiny heart. "Any idea when yet? Or where? I mean, are you having a small service or are you going to have a big church service? Somehow I couldn't picture you or Owen doing the big family showpiece, I'm certainly not into the big traditional wedding. What about you Arizona? When you and Callie get married... or blessed... or whatever; are you going to have a big fanfare?"

_When?_ Arizona couldn't decide if she was pleased or slightly terrified that people saw it as a matter of when rather than if. Teddy cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows at her when Arizona finally raised her head and made eye contact with her.

"I don't mind in all honesty but I think my parents ...and I know her parents... would want a big white wedding ... blessing thing" Arizona replied unsteadily. It was the first time she'd ever tried to picture what their wedding would be like and it was another distraction that she didn't need right now.

Teddy glanced towards Christina's twitching legs and sighed. Her attempts in distracting Christina from the surgery had no effect and the resident was still painfully silent. The cardio surgeon looked like she was out of idea's and Arizona had to admit that she was too. If Teddy, who had dealt with injured soldiers didn't know what to do other than call for help then there probably was nothing they could do now but wait. Technically they probably should have called for Psyche but hopefully Meredith would be able to deal with the situation without it drawing as much attention to her friend. Just as Arizona was thinking about Meredith the scrub nurses pager went off behind Teddy.

"Please tell me Meredith Grey is on the way right now?" the cardio surgeon bellowed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_The young boy was thrust onto a gurney in front of them as he began to code. Arizona launched herself onto the gurney with him and began to perform chest compressions and they where wheeled at speed towards their designated OR. _

_She was vaguely aware of the voices around her but the only thing she could really focus on was the child in front of her that she was frantically trying to keep alive long enough for them to get him into surgery. Teddy had sprinted on ahead to get scrubbed in but Christina was somewhere next to her screaming orders and yelling for other members of staff to move as they barged down the corridor. _

_She was vaguely aware of Christina peeling off into the scrub room as they reached their destination but she remained on the trolley as they were rolled into the OR. It wasn't until Teddy took over from Arizona that she stepped back and actually took in her surroundings. This OR was the room Yang had operated on Derek in, it was the room in which Owen Hunt had been shot and it was the room where Gary Clarke had held a gun at Christina's head. It had been a crime scene still for the last couple of days and had only been opened up for surgery again this morning. If Teddy had even realised the significance of their venue then she was showing no signs of it on her face as she used the panels to stabilize the boy. _

_The room had a chilling effect on Arizona but she instantly brushed it aside. She had a child's to help save; a child who was barely hanging on to life. She had been lucky not to have lost anyone in surgery in the days after the shooting's so far and she wasn't about to do so in this OR. So she rushed into the scrub room to find Christina partially scrubbed in but not moving with any real speed or determination._

"_Hurry up Yang!" she instructed as she tossed on a hospital supplied blue scrub cap. Usually she liked to wear her own more colourful scrub caps but in an emergency such as this there was no time for decorating oneself. _

_Christina seemed to speed up slightly and Arizona joined her by the sink and began scrubbing furiously at her hands and arms. The resident still wasn't rushing as much as Arizona would normally expect her too because the blonde was finished scrubbing in at the same time as the brunette even though Christina had been given a considerable head start. Arizona could understand her being a little hesitant over stepping foot inside this particular OR again but now wasn't the time for messing around or teetering in doorways._

"_Is everything okay Yang?" she asked as nicely as she could muster considering they should technically be in a rush. When Christina didn't answer or even avert her gaze towards her Arizona tried again._

"_Yang I know it's probably not your favourite place at the moment but we need to get in there. So are you alright?" _

_Christina's gaze finally met Arizona's and the resident plastered what could only be described as a 'fake' smile on her face._

"_I'm fine Dr Robbins" she responded in a clipped voice. Arizona knew her tone didn't hold the same level of certainty her words did but this was Christina Yang, scalpel hungry resident extraordinaire. She'd get over it the second there was an open heart to work on._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meredith had obviously know something was seriously up if she was being called to an OR when she wasn't meant to be doing surgeries because she got there with seven minutes. Arizona was on the side of the patient that gave her a good view of the scrubbing in room and she saw the brunette enter before anyone else did. Meredith obviously didn't know what was going on with Christina because she looked like she was about to scrub in until she saw Christina lying on the floor. Arizona was sure she had never seen anyone throw a scrub cap on so fast in her life and the older of the two Dr Grey's didn't even bother tying on her mask; she just held it in front of her face as she rushed into the OR.

Now Meredith was there Arizona turned her attention fully to the little boy again but it was hard not to notice the brunette lying down on the cold floor next to her friend. After about ten more minutes of repair work she really didn't have that much left to do apart from stick round in case there were any complications with the surgery that Teddy needed help with. So after another few minutes she was able to step away from the boy and make her way over to Meredith and Christina, who was now sitting up. She sat herself down on the floor next to her girlfriend's flatmate and glanced across at Meredith. The brunette looked worried, which was no surprise really considering she'd already been through so much this week already. Now her best friend and her husband's saviour, her reluctant hero, was clearly more emotionally shook up then anyone had realised her to be.

"I'm so sorry" Christina began to sob the second she realised Arizona was next to her.

Arizona had no idea how to react to the resident's tears but took a risk and gave her a tentative hug. Normally Christina would have beat her into a pulp for even considering hugging her but she was so shook up that she just buried her head against Arizona's scrub clad shoulder. Meredith seemed as shocked as Arizona and rubbed her face across her hands in fear and frustration before leaning against her friend and resting her head on Christina's shoulder. She looked close to tears too but seemed determined to hold everything together for Christina. It wasn't fair really; everyone should be trying to hold it together for her. Arizona couldn't imagine what it had been like for Meredith these past couple of days yet she had been as hard working and professional as ever.

The room was silent for a while, with only the sounds of the equipment humming away and the faint noises from Teddy as she operated. Perhaps there was more noise than that but Arizona was blocking it out. Either way the OR sounded oddly quiet to her, quieter even than the resident beside her as she breathed in and out.

"I don't know what happened" Christina finally spoke up again. She sat up straight and made a half hearted attempt at wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her scrub top. Meredith stayed resting on Christina's shoulder and her eyes were closed but somehow it was still obvious she was listening to her friend's words.

"I was a bit weirded out but I thought I was handling it. Then my legs just went to jello and I don't know...I just...I just hit the floor."

The resident was clearly in a state of shock and Arizona didn't know how to explain or offer her words of comfort. Meredith looked a little too shuck up to think of anything to say either.

"It's Post Traumatic Stress Yang" Teddy's voice rang out across the OR. "I wouldn't be surprised if we were all suffering from it in one way or another. It just manifests differently in different people."

Christina nodded slowly, she obviously understood that it was PTSD; she just couldn't believe it was happening to her of all people. Now Arizona knew of two people who she cared about who were on the verge of a mental breakdown and she didn't like it one bit. She hated feeling helpless and she knew there must be something she could do, even if it was a short term solution, to take their minds of the memorial service the next day and everything that had just happened.

"We need drink" she thought out loud. "Tequila, wine, vodka, Whisky, Brandy, beer or whatever... we just need drink!"

Usually Arizona wouldn't turn to drink to solve her problems but in truth she was dreading the memorial service. She and Callie had already postponed their 'Erica Hahn chat' to play host to Lexie so what difference would a few more guests make.

"Yeah let's have a girl's night in the apartment Christina" Arizona continued. "Lexie is coming round already and we can invite Bailey. It will be fun... well it will be more fun than being alone anyway."

Christina nodded her head vigorously. She was never the type to turn down alcohol and there had been several times in the past where Arizona had returned late from work to find the resident and Calliope dancing round the flat with a bottle of tequila in hand. Once or twice it had pissed her off because she'd had a bad day and she'd needed Callie to be there for her, not stupidly drunk. Most of the time though it had been funny and kind of cute, especially as her girlfriend looked incredibly hot whilst dancing when so inhibited.

"Sounds like a good plan" Meredith agreed. "I'm up for that, I haven't left the hospital for days and I'm sure Derek will be delighted that I'm doing something other than sit by his bed side in the evenings. Can we invite April because she's a bit of a wreck after Reed dying and she needs a friend or two?"

Arizona had never socialised outside of work with April Kepner before and in truth she found her a little annoying to work with. It wasn't that April wasn't a talented resident with great potential but she was a little clingy and constantly required praise and reassurance. Perhaps it was because she was relatively new to the hospital and probably felt like she had a point to prove compared to the long term residents such as Meredith and Alex. Whether April was annoying or not Arizona was not going to exclude the woman, especially if Meredith wanted her included even after her obvious crush on Derek Sheppard.

"Sure" Arizona agreed, "how about I stay here with Dr Altman and you two can scrub out and go invite people."

Christina scrambled to her feet instantly; happy for the chance to escape the OR which she was obviously finding so oppressive. At least for the next couple of hours the resident could focus on inviting people and buying drink and food in for them all rather than worrying about the fact she just totally broke down in the OR.

When Christina's back was safely turned Meredith gave Arizona an appreciative smile before following her best friend out the OR. Arizona didn't move from her spot on the floor as she watched the two remove their scrub caps and Christina scrubbed out. She felt a little too drained to move just yet, emotionally drained by all that was going on and physically drained by her and Callie's sex-apades in the on call room earlier on. Not that she was complaining... because it was amazing, but between that and the house fire victims she had totally missed lunch.

"Are you okay Arizona?" her friends voice broke her from her reverie. It must have seemed quite strange to Teddy that she was now just sat on her own and very still on the OR floor. Perhaps it was quite strange but she couldn't help but reflect on the day's events. The news of the impending memorial service had been shock enough, but seeing two of her friends and co-workers suffer PTSD attacks within a few hours of the other was truly food for thought. Perhaps the OR wasn't the best place to be analysing it all though.

"I'm good" she assured her as she scrambled to her feet. The heart surgeon was in the process of stitching the heart back up again so Arizona moved herself closer to her friend to watch her work. She could have scrubbed out of the surgery several minutes ago if she really wanted too but nobody seemed to need her anywhere else and it was comforting to be around her best friend right now.

"Try not to take the weight of the world on your own shoulders" Teddy advised as she continued to work without looking up at Arizona. "I think tonight is a great idea and I'm glad you suggested it, don't get me wrong. I'm just worried that you are trying to take everybody's healing on and ignoring your own."

Did Teddy have a point? Was she prioritising Lexie Grey and Christina Yang's problems before her own? She had postponed the 'Hahn' talk for them. On the other hand she was the one that had pushed for a 'Hahn' talk to place that morning so it wasn't like she was trying to avoid it. Yes it was a talk they needed to have but it could wait a couple of days. They weren't arguing after all and everything seemed pretty damn good between them considering they had only just got back together and had experienced a life altering incident together. No she wasn't avoiding anything, just trying to do the right thing by everyone else too.

"I don't like to see people suffer" she finally replied. "Maybe it's the surgeon in me but I always like to try and fix them. Plus I think I should have realised Christina wasn't ready to be back operating in this OR. Actually I think I did realise, I just ignored it."

She felt a little ashamed of herself for virtually pushing the resident through the door at the beginning of surgery. She should have stopped and thought about it for a second rather than obsessing over her own fears of nightmare plagued dreams with tiny coffins and weeping parents.

"Christina Yang is my resident Arizona" Teddy spoke the words slowly and carefully. "I didn't even consider how she would feel entering that OR when I told her she was coming with me in the ER. Perhaps I am therefore to blame for her breakdown but at the end of the day I'm paid the big bucks to save lives, babysitting residents comes a distant second."


	25. Girls Night

**Chapter 25**

It had been another long day for Callie as after her surgery with Kepner she had been thrown straight into an OR with Hunt, Avery and Sloan for another five hours of trauma surgery. By the time they had got out of surgery the hospital was on night time skeleton staff and most of their friends had escaped hours before. Avery stayed behind a little longer to monitor the patient but Hunt, her and Mark were all heading back in the same direction so they walked across the parking lot together to their apartment block. Callie felt a bit too drained for conversation and was quite happy just to listen to Owen talking about his shoulder. It had been his first surgery since he'd been shot and he probably shouldn't have done it but he seemed determined to get on with everyday life. It was unfortunate the board hadn't chose to give him the temporary position as Chief as he was very good at organising and directing procedures. Instead she was landed with Erica Hahn who seemed determined to land the job on a permanent basis.

As the lift opened on their floor the sound of female laughter could be heard from down the hall. It sounded suspiciously like it came from Callie's apartment but there seemed to be too much noise for the three people she expected to find there. Owen and Mark looked equally confused at the girly giggling.

"Is that your place?" Mark asked, raising a quizzical eye at her.

"It sure sounds like it" Callie muttered before starting to march down the corridor. God knows what was going on in there but they were being so loud they would surely get complaints.

The noise got even louder as they grew nearer. It was so loud in fact that no one inside heard Callie unlock the door with her key and swing it open. The Ortho surgeon stood in the doorway, rooted with shock at the sight in front of her. The two guys peered over her shoulder nervously at the gaggle of women strewn out around the room in front of them.

Callie's apartment was literally full of female surgeons. Arizona, Teddy and Bailey where on one of the sofa's passing a bottle of Brandy between them whilst Christina sat on the floor by Arizona's legs swigging from a rather large bottle of Tequila. She had half a lemon in the other hand and was taking a swig from the bottle before licking the lemon; something Callie's girlfriend was in the middle of describing as gross. On the opposite sofa sat Meredith and April with beer in hand and with all sorts of hair grooming equipment surrounding them. Lexie sat on the floor between her half-sister's legs and seemed to be half way through a bottle of vodka. The younger Grey had somehow reverted back to being a brunette during the evening and Callie dreaded what state her bathroom was in. Hopefully they had played with the hair dye before they got drunk. They had definitely destroyed one of her nice fluffy towels whilst doing it though as the now brown and white patchy towel lay on the floor by the hairdryer and an assortment of combs.

Callie was expected them to have Lexie as a guest that night but she certainly did not expect to see so many other people crowding her space. It was almost surreal to see Teddy and Christina laughing and joking after what occurred with Owen and she had never expected to see April Kepner in her home. Not that she had anything against April, in fact after today she felt rather fond of the stress head resident.

"Calliope!" Arizona suddenly squealed, nearly tipping the brandy bottle over. Bailey just about managed to catch it on time before it went everywhere but Arizona didn't even seem to notice. Instead the inebriated blonde leapt to her feet and came bounding across the room and wrapped her arms around Callie.

"Hi Sloan! Hi Owen!" the blonde greeted the two remarkably silent guys over Callie's shoulder.

When the blonde finally pulled out of the hug Callie glanced around the room, silently asking her girlfriend what an earth was going on.

"We decided everyone was really down today" Arizona explained cheerfully, "so we thought a girls night would cheer everyone up!"

Callie looked around the room at the collection of women in front of her. They certainly did look like they were having fun and with the memorial service fast approaching a distraction was welcome. She wasn't convinced them all getting ridiculously drunk was the answer but she was outnumbered on this one.

"I have Tequila" Christina yelled across the room at Callie before stumbling to her feet and weaving towards them. "You can even share my lemon!"

Callie wrinkled her nose at the suggestion which made both Arizona and Christina chuckle. Once Christina reached them she handed Callie the Tequila and patted her shoulder.

"Drink" she ordered, "you have a lot of catching up to do!"

Considering how light the bottle of Tequila was Callie knew that was no lie. The Cardio resident had drank at least two thirds of it so it was no wonder she looked so hammered. Christina then stepped round Callie and kissed Owen's chin, although Callie was sure it was meant to be his lips, and then started pushing him and Mark into the hallway.

"Girls night" Christina declared, "you two go watch sport or something and have male bonding time!"

Arizona repeated Christina's words like a parrot as Mark and Owen willingly sloped away towards Mark's apartment door. It was funny to see them both look so intimidated by a room full of women although Sloan would never admit to being intimidated. Once they were gone Christina closed the door and drunkenly wandered over to the sofa by Meredith and sat down. Callie followed Arizona into the room and sat on the sofa with Teddy and Bailey, leaving the blonde to sit on the floor by her legs.

"Give me your beer Kepner" Christina demanded.

"Get your own" a drunken April replied surprisingly confidently, causing laughter to ripple round the room.

"Heh okay" Christina chuckled, "I'll even get you another one for growing some balls!"

Callie took a couple of big swigs of the Tequila, trying not to pull any odd faces as the liquid burned her throat. She was a Tequila drinker but she usually warmed up her palette with a couple of beers first. She took another swig ad then took a quick glance around the room again. Arizona was cuddling her leg contentedly which was awfully cute and wasn't going unnoticed by Teddy and Bailey who seemed to be 'awwwwing' at them. It was weird being the sober person in a room full of drunken people.

"You dyed your hair back" she stated the obvious to Lexie who looked far better brunette anyway in Callie's opinion.

"They say blondes have more fun. They lie! Being blonde sucks….sorry Arizona" Lexie slurred drunkenly. Arizona just giggled drunkenly in response and waved the insult away before the younger Grey continued her rant.

"Since I have been blonde I have had a crap time! I got shot at, friends got hurt or killed…..and I dated Alex Karev!"

"She has a point" Meredith smirked at Callie. The Ortho surgeon couldn't argue with any of that either so for once her and Meredith Grey seemed to be seeing eye to eye. In fact now Callie was starting to understand the situation. Christina only drank like that when she was down, Lexie was obviously at a low point and Meredith had to be feeling really low even though she was hiding it well. Callie couldn't imagine watching her loved one get shot and having a miscarriage on one day. On their own either was horrific enough. Bailey had watched Charles die and April had been there when her hero Derek was shot. This was a room of seriously shaken people and tomorrow was going to drag it all up again. This was a good idea and what they needed was a couple of silly games to amuse themselves with.

"Lets play 'I Never'" Callie suddenly blurted out. It caused immediate uproar with Christina, Teddy, Lexie and Arizona instantly shouting their approval. Meredith looked sceptical and Bailey looked horrified and April…April just looked damn confused.

"I never?" she asked nervously, looking from person to person for some sort of idea what it was.

"Let's say I am going first" Christina explained "and I say…I never gave a guy a blow job on the first date. Well anyone who has done that has to drink and if they are the only one who drinks they have to tell the story. Get it?"

April nodded nervously and Callie had to hold in her laughter as the resident looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. She couldn't imagine that April was going to drink much during this game.

"This is a baaaaaaaad idea" Bailey said seriously, "so I am going first!"

Teddy wolf whistled and Arizona and Christina cheered drunkenly at the normally stern general attending. Callie knew the tone of the game usually lowered as it went on so Bailey was probably playing it safe going first.

"I have never broke any male appendix during hospital hours" Bailey stated, quirking her eyebrows at Lexie as she said it.

The younger Grey was the only one who drank and everyone chuckled except April. The brunette just looked at Lexie in shock so obviously that story had never reached her ears.

"It was before your time" Lexie patted April's knee, "and I didn't realise everyone knew!"

"Oh we knew" Meredith informed her, "Derek couldn't keep his mouth shut I'm afraid."

Lexie shrugged like she didn't mind but there was a faint blush on her cheeks which showed she was slightly embarrassed. Callie looked to her side at Teddy to signal her to go next.

"I never cheated on anyone I was dating" Teddy declared proudly. Callie wished she didn't have to drink for this but that would be lying. She wasn't the only one who drank though because Lexie and Christina drank too which meant she didn't have to explain at least. Arizona's eyes flicked up at her from her seat on the floor but the blonde didn't comment.

"I never had on call room sex before I got to Seattle Grace" Arizona carried on the game before anyone could discuss cheating.

Callie couldn't help but smile at the fact that in that respect she had been Arizona's first. Only Teddy drank on this go and the Cardiac Surgeon slapped Arizona's shoulder playfully because apart from April she was the only one who had worked in another hospital. The question was always going to trip her up. Everyone looked at Teddy expectantly and she shook her head and giggled.

"During my residency, Dr Benedict Rothwell, a prominent British Surgeon who was the research partner of my attending…several times during his two week visit!"

Everyone, even April, 'oooed' childishly at her and laughter rippled around the room at Teddy's blushes. Except Christina who waved her bottle to get Teddy's attention.

"I've read his papers and books!" she shouted, "Is he as much of a legend in bed?"

"I did say I went back for more several times" Teddy nodded her head in a positive way. This comment caused more uproar and Callie wondered what Mark and Owen in the opposite apartment were making of all this joviality.

"Callie?" Bailey prompted her to take her go. The Ortho Surgeon wracked her brains for something to say.

"I never fantasized about Chief Webber" Callie offered.

She'd often wondered if Bailey thought more of Webber than she let on but apart from raising her eyebrows Bailey's reaction didn't give anything away. In fact the only person who drank was Teddy and everyone stared at her aghast.

"What?" she asked defensively, "he's a good looking guy!"

Arizona giggled drunkenly and cuddled into Callie's legs, kissing her jean clad knee. Callie saw April 'awwwww' at them out of the corner of her eye. She was certainly learning a lot about the resident and her character today.

"Well" Christina spoke loudly, "I never kissed a woman."

Callie and Arizona drank which was obviously going to happen but Lexie also drank which caused some raised eyebrows.

"Drunken dare" Lexie slurred in explanation. The younger Grey sounded absolutely hammered.

April looked rather apprehensive now it was her go and Callie wondered if there was anything April had done that the others hadn't. She didn't really seem like the adventurous type.

"Erm well….well I never….I never had sex" the resident stuttered nervously. Everyone sat quietly and Callie wasn't sure what to say. Christina took a swig of her drink but then spat it out and looked at April like she had grown two heads. Obviously it had only just dawned on Christina what she had said.

"You're a virgin?" Christina blurted out. "Jesus no wonder you are so uptight Kepner!"

Callie cringed at Christina's lack of subtlety and Arizona gestured with her hand for Christina to shush as April looked mortified.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be" Teddy informed April, "better just to buy a good vibrator."

Bailey raised the bottle of Brandy up to that and Lexie and Christina raised their bottles in agreement. Callie was rather relived Arizona didn't join in or she'd have kicked her. They had always had great sex as far as she was concerned and she was glad to see Arizona didn't disagree with that. Obviously McDreamy was all that in bed too because Meredith just smirked and kept her beer bottle down.

"My go" Lexie squealed, "I never had sex in a hospital store room."

Callie, Arizona and Meredith instantly took a big gulp of their drinks and Bailey raised her hands up in defeat.

"That is just wrong and dirty" Bailey chastised them. "Can't you just stick to your own homes? On call room sex is bad enough."

"I never had sex with Mark Sloan no matter how many times he tried it on with me" Meredith continued the game. Teddy, Callie and Lexie all drank and Bailey shuck her head again. It's a good job none of the nurses were here or many more would have drunk.

"There is a door you can always knock on if you want to lose your virginity any time soon" Christina prodded April with the mouth of her bottle.

"Ewwww no" April responded instantly "I know people call him McSteamy but McSlimey seems more appropriate to me."

The only person who didn't laugh was Lexie who Callie knew was still in love with Mark. Even Callie had to agree that her best friend suited April's nickname for him at times. She'd been disappointed with him when he had slept with Reed and offered Teddy a threesome when she walked in on it. He had been telling her for weeks that he wanted to settle down and he was really serious about making things work with Teddy so that was just pathetic.

"This has been an informative evening" Bailey said flatly "and I have decided that Kepner is the only one of you with any sense."

"Excuse me!" Christina waved her hand round in the air with her engagement ring on. "I have never slept with Mark Sloan either and I never will!"


	26. Before the Storm

**Chapter 26**

"_Sure you are ready to put your blonde days behind you Lex?" Meredith asked her younger (half) sister as Arizona finished soaking the young residents hair. _

"_Hell yes" Lexie replied, trying to lift her head but Arizona pushed it back down._

_Lexie was leaning over the sink in Callie and Christina's apartment so that Arizona, Meredith and April could dye her hair back to its original dark brunette colour. It didn't really need three people but Arizona wanted to make sure the bathroom didn't get trashed too much, Meredith seemed quite keen to do the deed and she had brought April to the apartment so she seemed determined to make her feel welcome. April was merely acting as a dispenser as she had their drinks, the towel, a comb, rubber gloves and the hair dye piled up around her and was passing them what they needed when they needed it. _

_Now Lexie's hair was suitably wet April passed Meredith the rubber gloves and the older Grey snapped them on like she was about to go into surgery. _

"_If you weren't related to me I'd be getting a bit worried now considering the position I'm in" Lexie quipped from her position in the sink. Arizona giggled rather than laughed so she knew she was starting to get a bit tipsy. She only ever giggled like that when she was tipsy. _

"_Lubricant" Meredith joked towards April but the naïve resident just looked at her blankly. _

"_It was joke April" Meredith explained, "hair dye please!"_

"_Ohhhhhhhh" April replied, blushing slightly, before handing Meredith the bottle of hair dye. It looked like one of those plastic bottles that contained liquid antibiotics for children. _

_Arizona had never used hair dye on herself; she loved her hair, more that she'd ever admit to anyone. One of her housemates during her residency used to dye their hair all the time in all kind of whacky colours and they used to make a terrible mess. That's why she was currently stood with a flannel ready to wipe any dye that splashed on the tiles because she was damn sure Callie would kill her if they made a mess. She had no idea how her girlfriend was going to react to having everyone in her apartment when she returned from work so she wanted to keep the nasty surprises to a minimum._

_Meredith started to massage the dye into Lexie's hair, occasionally taking the comb of April to part the hair and make sure she wasn't leaving the younger Grey with blonde roots._

"_It's good news about Christina and Dr Hunt" April piped up. "I believe he asked her to marry him in the ER." _

"_He did" Meredith agreed. "He actually spoke to me about it first. Asked me if I thought Christina would forgive him. I told him she would; she'd stuck by him through worse after all."_

_Arizona had heard about the time when he'd strangled the cardio resident in her sleep from Callie. Christina had been very brave to work through that mess with him and she was sure he'd do the same for her now she seemed to be suffering with a bit of PTSD herself. _

"_At least they get a happy ending" Lexie voice was muffled by the sink but it was easy to tell she was thinking about her and Mark._

"_Dr Robbins and Dr Torres have a happy ending" April commented, smiling at Arizona as she said it. "Just be grateful you are alive."_

_April sounded sad as she finished speaking. Arizona had almost forgot because of all that had gone on since the shootings that April had found her best friend dead in one of the store rooms. She had also seen Derek get shot as well as being involved in all that followed with Derek, Owen and Gary Clark. _

"_And now we have Dr Hahn to deal with too after all that crap" April continued. "That woman is such a monster; god knows why they didn't give it to Dr Webber temporarily." _

_It was funny to hear April rant about any of her superiors. She had always come across to Arizona as a suck up and as terrified of authority as she was._

"_Monster is an understatement" Lexie mumbled from inside the sink again. "Hurry up Mer I feel like my head is going to fall off and I want my beer."_

_She was in a particularly uncomfortable looking position so Arizona had some sympathy for her. April who was stood to Arizona's left cleared her throat and took and put the beer she was currently drinking down. It was no wonder she was being so bold because whilst they had been standing there she had finished off her own beer and drank ninety percent of Lexie's._

"_I'll….erm…I'll get her another one!" she pulled a nervous face before scampering out of the bathroom._

__

Arizona woke up in desperate need of a drink. She'd drank about four glasses of water before she'd gone to bed but apparently she was still dehydrated after all the alcohol she'd ingested. She detangled herself from her sleeping girlfriend and found her dressing gown. They had ended up with both Grey's staying in their apartment, Lexie on the sofa and Meredith on the floor on a bed of cushions. April was sleeping on the other sofa. Bailey and Teddy had ended up staying in Mark's apartment. He had very nicely given them the bed whilst he took the sofa although she was sure he was too terrified of Bailey to not be a gentleman.

Arizona crept across the living room area and into the kitchen without waking anyone. So far so good, so she found herself a clean glass and turned the tap on low to fill her glass. As she turned the tap off she heard a soft whimper and she wondered if she'd woke someone. No one spoke up though so she knocked the glass of water back, put the empty glass to one side and started to creep back to her and Callie's bed. There were more soft whimpers as she passed the nearest sofa to their room and she realised that someone was crying. She wasn't sure which resident was on which sofa so she leant over the back of the sofa and strained her eyes in the dark to see. She made out the form of Lexie who seemed to be shaking as well as crying.

Meredith had obviously heard it too because she climbed up of her bed of cushions and knelt next to her half-sister. She took one of Lexie's hands in hers and gave the distressed resident a light shake.

"Lexie" she called out softly, causing the sleeping brunette to stir suddenly. Lexie reached out instantly and hugged the older Grey. Meredith looked slightly surprised bug hugged her back.

"Gary Clarke" Lexie choked out through her tears, "he was pointing a gun at me and I thought I was going to die…."

Meredith hugged her a bit harder and glanced up at Arizona. She didn't know what to say to comfort the young resident any more then Meredith did.

"It was just a nightmare" Meredith tried to calm her. "It's all over now honey, Gary Clarke is dead and gone."

"How could anyone do something so crazy?" Lexie clung onto Meredith all the more as she spoke.

"I don't know" Meredith admitted, "but it's over now and you need to rest."

Lexie nodded but didn't let her half-sister go just yet. She was still sobbing slightly and Arizona was amazed that all this talking and noise hadn't woke April on the couch just a couple of metres away. In fact the resident was as still as a log.

"She's still alive" Meredith seemed to notice where Arizona was gazing, "she was snoring before!"

Arizona felt a sense of relief; all she needed was a dead resident lying on her girlfriend's sofa because she let her drink herself to death. As it was Arizona was sure the evening had done them all good and brought them together as a unit.

"Arizona can you push my bed this way so I can sleep right by her?" Meredith asked, "I think that might help tonight…"

It was a good idea so Arizona shuffled around the sofa and shoved the mix of cushions and bedding towards Meredith so that it was pressed against the sofa. Lexie had finally stopped sobbing and had lain back down by the time Arizona had finished. Meredith was still holding the hand that her younger half-sister had flung over the edge of the sofa. As Meredith sat down onto her bed Lexie's heavy breathing signalled that she was already asleep again.

"She must be exhausted" Meredith commented.

"She's been sleeping in dribs and drabs on chairs since it happened" Arizona admitted. "That's why I invited her here tonight…because she was afraid to be alone."

It had been a long few days since the shooting and she was sure Lexie had slept no more than a couple of hours a night. The eyes of Seattle and quite possibly America would be on them tomorrow. Would they be able to all hold up to the pressure? Arizona wasn't even sure if she was ready to drag it all up in front of a watchful media at a memorial service.

"You are a good person Arizona. Surgeons can be cold; competitive…you care about the people around you" Meredith complemented her.

Arizona shifted awkwardly at the praise. She thought of herself as good person but it was different hearing someone else say it. She could feel het rising to her cheeks but luckily it was too dark for the older Grey to see it.

"I think you have been amazing considering everything that happened, I don't know how you have been so strong."

It was human nature to return a compliment when one is received but Arizona truly meant what she was saying. She was terrified when the gun man had entered the room with her, Callie and Ruby. She could not begin to imagine how she would have felt if Callie had been injured.

"I have spent most nights in a chair too to be honest, next to Derek, but I do sleep at least" Meredith admitted. She lay back onto the cushions and pulled the blanket over her. Arizona could roughly make out her brow furrowing in thought as she lay there.

"Speaking of sleep I should get back to my girlfriend, it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Arizona decided it was best to leave Meredith to her thoughts plus it was about four thirty in the morning and she had to be up at seven. She still had to do her morning rounds before the ten o'clock memorial service.

"Night Arizona" Meredith briefly broke her reverie to respond.

Arizona headed back into the bedroom, quietly opening and closing the door behind her. It seemed like Callie was still asleep as the room was still and silent but as she slipped between the covers Callie stirred and wrapped her arms round her so they were pressed front to front.

"Everyone okay?" Callie mumbled in her ear, "I heard someone crying."

"Lexie had a nightmare" Arizona cuddled into her girlfriend and kissed her shoulder. "She's settled again now."

Callie nuzzled her cheek before kissing it, and then she started kissing close and closer to her mouth before finally placing a soft kiss on her lips. Arizona closed her eyes and enjoyed the attention her girlfriend was giving her. The small kisses continued for another few seconds before Callie pulled back and Arizona opened her eyes at the sudden loss of contact.

"This memorial service is coming so quick" Callie admitted, "I don't think the wounds have even begun to heal yet."

Arizona remembered all that Callie had said the first night after it had happened. The fact she had put herself between Arizona and Gary Clarke because she couldn't bear to lose her. It seemed silly looking back how Arizona had ever let her go in the first place but the shootings for them had been the rebirth of their relationship. There were wounds certainly, friends had been shot and they themselves had been in danger.

"It was fun last night" Callie spoke up again. "I thought I was going to kill you when I first walked in but it was a great idea."

Arizona had seen the look on Callie's face when she had entered the apartment the night before. She already knew her girlfriend had been unimpressed but she was glad Callie was telling her it was okay. Plus it had been a fun night and they had found out some interesting things about the other surgeons.

"I can't believe you had a threesome with two nurses" Callie chuckled. "You can never grumble about the fact I slept with Karev ONCE ever again now I know that."

"I can…I know Karev…name me one nurse you know at John Hopkins" Arizona protested lightly.

She nearly died of embarrassment when she had to explain that little gem to them all during 'I never'. She had been the only one to drink and worst of all it had been Callie's go. The look on her girlfriends face had been priceless when she had took a mouthful of brandy and her jaw had dropped when Arizona had explained it wasn't just one nurse it was two…at the same time.

"Hahn was such a pain in the ass yesterday" Callie changed the subject. "She came into my OR and hung over my shoulder. I tell you I thought Kepner was a mouse before yesterday but I have a much better opinion of her now."

Callie took a breath and went to continue her rant but Arizona cut in.

"I know Bailey told me" she admitted. The general surgeon had told her what she'd overheard when she had first arrived at the apartment the night before. Bailey had ranted and raved about Hahn and the board because she couldn't understand the logic in bringing someone back who just left the hospital with no warning rather than intrusting the hospital to Webber or one of the other Attending's short term.

"It's a joke that she is going to be there at the memorial service" Callie continued, "She's only interested in herself."

Arizona stroked her girlfriend's hair and Callie pulled in closer to her again for a cuddle. From what Arizona had heard they could probably get Hahn done for sexual harassment in the workplace. Bailey was certainly all for reporting her but Arizona had told her Callie would probably not want the hassle. She was sure her girlfriend would just want to ride out the storm until Derek was back on his feet and Hahn would be miles away again.

"What can I do to make it better?" Arizona asked her thoughtful looking girlfriend. Arizona's eyes had adjusted to the dark so well by now that she could pretty much see Callie's face clearly. Every time she admired her like this she felt so lucky to have such an awesome and beautiful partner.

"Mmmmm" Callie responded, "You could kiss me until the sun comes up?"

That sounded perfect; it wasn't quite the answer she was expecting but it sounded perfect. She was expecting her to request a night alone or a date or something like that and maybe she would request it later. For now though it was a request that Arizona was very willing to make happen.

"That I can do" Arizona replied silkily before pressing Callie back against the bed and slowly and sweetly kissing her.


End file.
